Thin Line Between Right and Wrong
by Angel1039
Summary: The gang goes off to college to find they will make many more mistakes. They will hurt each other, fight constantly, test the strength of friendship, create stronger bonds and find there is much left to learn. When it's finally Casey's wedding day, she may be the one to ruin it. Why is she prepared to run from the best guy she ever met and risk everything to be with the worst?
1. Thin Line

**So I found this story on one of my flash drives and just figured I would go with it. I can put a lot of effort into it if I really want to, so just let me know what you think. The song featured in this chapter is 'Fucked up Situation' by My Darkest Days.**

* * *

**Chapter One**

_December 2015_

_I should be home right now_

_It's a real small town_

_I keep looking over my shoulder_

_How many people know now_

Casey took a deep breath, slowly letting it out, running her hands down her dress once more. This was it, it was finally the big day. It was the day every girl dreamt about and the dream was finally happening to her. Yet, it also was also rather nerve-wracking wondering if she was making the right choice after everything they had been through.

It was all going so perfectly and she had been so sure that nothing would change her mind. Now she was shaky and having second thoughts. She ran her hands over her dress as if continuously smoothing it out, feeling the texture and the designs.

She looked into the mirror to see her mom, Nora, her sisters, Lizzie and Marti, and her best friend, Rachel, standing behind her, smiles covering their faces as Casey looked at them. They all looked so old compared to when she first thought about this day when this day would happen after high school. That was when she was seventeen though and now she was twenty-four, plus she thought it would be Max back then.

Wow. That means that it had been almost ten years since she first moved into the Venturi household. Casey turned around and looked at Marti. She had turned sixteen a couple months ago and no longer the little six year old she had been so long ago. She had changed so much from the little girl that she had been back then, which didn't feel that long ago.

The day she moved into the Venturi house had been what she thought was the worst day of her life, but it led to this day, even if the path was bumpy. It led to the happiest moment of her life, even though she wasn't sure what would make her happy at that moment. It left her with the best memories and the best of friends, even with all of the drama and fights.

But was this really going to be the best day of her life? Was she really sure that she wanted to go through with this? She always wanted everything to be so perfect and this was no exception, refusing to let anything ruin it since the planning began. It was her wedding day after all and now that the day had come, she was worried that she would be the one to ruin it.

Nora walked over to Casey, tears filling her eyes as she looked at her daughter in her wedding dress. "Nervous?" Nora asked and Casey nodded weakly. Nora rubbed Casey's arm, sighing deeply at the sight of her nervous daughter.

"This is the dream though, isn't it?" Casey asked and Nora laughed lightly.

"Love at first sight, first love overcoming everything over the years. Yeah, it's without a doubt a dream." Nora said and they both thought of how it was pretty overrated, but uncontrollably romantic. Like mother, like daughter. Casey forced a laugh, looking in the mirror once more.

"Is it my dream?" She whispered to herself as Nora rubbed her back, not trying to tell her daughter what was best for her, but knowing what she wanted her daughter to choose.

The mother-daughter relationship can be one of the most amazing relationships in the world. If it works well, it is exponentially better than any other relationship because it interconnects two people who have a similar talent, the ability to share their emotions and feelings, yet are a generation apart. Therefore, one of them has the wisdom of experience, and the other has the freshness of youth. With a healthy bond, a mother and her daughter may find that they have the skills and smarts to overcome any problem or challenge they will come to face.

"Sam loves you and I know you love him." Nora said quickly, not wanting to say more, before grabbing her flowers and then exiting the bridal room. Casey sighed, knowing her mother was right, and yet it felt so wrong. Maybe not wrong, but it felt a lot more different than she thought it would feel. She knew that she would be nervous, but she never would have thought that she would be having second thoughts about it. Sam was perfect and they had overcome so much, growing up since the first time they dated ten years ago.

Casey felt arms wrap around her and she smiled at her little sister, Lizzie. Well, not so little anymore, Casey thought to herself. Lizzie had just turned twenty-one last month, come to think of it. Casey hugged her back, waiting for the comforting words to come.

"I know you may think this is a mistake, but it is right. He is very good for you and he is Mr. Perfect. You will see why it makes sense later, but right now you might not understand why he is the right choice. You will understand why you chose him later, but right now just do it." Lizzie said expressing her opinion and Casey nodded, unable to form words. She rested a hand on Casey's shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze, before exiting the room to join her mother and to give Marti and Rachel some time with Casey.

"If there is one thing I've learned from living with all of you in that house, its love." Marti stated firmly and Casey laughed a bit.

"I thought it would be battle tactics." Casey said smiling much more than she had all morning.

"I know you love him, but do as you wish. I, unlike everyone else, think you will regret this later. I think you should rethink your decision." Marti continued with and Casey looked at her interested, her smile fading away. "Sam is a great guy, but I don't think you love him like you say you do. I think you want to be with him because it feels right to you." Marti continued to explain and then immediately continued talking when Casey went to jump in. "Casey, just think about what's wrong for once. Sometimes it's so wrong it's right. Sam has always been there for you and I know that, but he is not right for you. Besides, when have I ever really been wrong." Marti said and Casey felt more comfortable then she had in a while. She smiled lightly and hugged Marti.

"You always saw everything in a different way than everyone else." Casey said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm making the right choice though. In some way it is, it has to be. I think your right with the way you think, but this way makes more sense." Casey said simply and Marti sighed.

"I hope your right." Marti said, before leaving the room. Rachel walked up to Casey and laughed lightly.

"I'm in pink, so whether you like it or not you are listening to me." She said and Casey smiled at her dark haired friend. "I've never disliked Sam and you know that, but I want you to make your choice based on your feelings, not on what people say." Rachel said and Casey laughed at her. She had been her best friend since junior year and she helped her through everything. Casey trusted her and knew she was right, but she didn't know what her feelings were. "I have to go that's my cue." Rachel said, turning heel and rushing out the door. Casey took a deep breathe listening to the music, waiting for her cue.

Once it finally came, she took one final deep breath. She ran her hand down her dress once more, before gripping her flowers tightly. She then left the room and walked towards the aisle. She turned into the aisle and saw everyone standing and waiting for her grand entrance. The one she had been planning for months, or better yet years.

And then her worries went away. She saw him, standing up there and smiling at her. She knew what her best choice was and she was ready to stick with it, no matter what anyone else thought about it. Although, she learned a long time ago that things won't go anywhere nearly as perfect as she planned.

The consequences of our actions are always so unique and so complicated that it makes it impossible to know what is coming next.

* * *

_Six years earlier... 2009_

_You got a family at home_

_You're out with me getting stoned_

_It's been a long time coming_

_But now I got you all alone_

_So we lock the door behind us_

_Cause we both know the truth_

_It's a fucked up situation_

_When the one that you love is never enough_

Eighteen year old Casey sighed as she laid in her bed. Max and her just broke up once more and she was no longer sure what to do. The first time had been her choice and the second time had been his choice. This time it had been a mutual break up and Casey still felt lost. He was so perfect, but they just differed in so many ways. There constant solution was just to break up for a couple months and then reunite. It worked, but it was hard on both of them and the other knew it.

After the first break up, she dated Noel for a couple months. He was a rebounder and she felt strongly for him, but not strong enough. The relationship ended cleanly and they still talked a lot. After the second break up, she dated Trevor of all people. He was a close friend of hers and after Max broke up with her, they dated. It didn't last long though, about a month maybe, before they realized that they cherished their friendship more. Amazingly enough though, the dating and the break up brought them closer.

Now she had nothing. She wasn't going to be stupid enough to date another one of her friends, or Derek's friends, especially during her senior year. She had to show she learned something about dating after the past three years. She would just go off to college and find a guy there, not worry about dating anymore during high school.

Well, that meant that she would have to get off her bum and live the rest of her senior year they way that she should. She was going to have fun and leave an impression on everyone in her life. She pushed herself out of her bed, refusing to feel sorry for herself and threw open her door, walking out of her room and right into step-brother Derek. Derek was also a senior, but he was nineteen.

"Earth to space Case. Watch where you're going." Derek snapped at her, before pushing past her. Casey rolled her eyes and followed him. She threw an arm around his shoulder and he stopped walking.

"Tell me Derek. How is the relationship with Sally going?" Casey said, a smirk playing on her lips and Derek glared at her, shrugging her arm off his shoulder. She hit a button and she knew it, but that is simply how the two of them worked. They fought, they bickered and they pushed each other's buttons, although never aiming to truly hurt the other.

"Tell me, how is the most recent break up." Derek said, crossing his arms and Casey eyed him carefully.

"Better than the last one." She said and he rolled his eyes, walking away from her. "So when do you plan on seeing Sally next?" Casey asked, digging deeper into Derek's skin. He turned around, flipped her off and stormed away, leaving Casey satisfied.

Derek and Sally had been dating for about 10 or so months now, but things were nowhere near perfect. When Smelly Nelly's found out they were dating, they changed their schedules so they didn't work together, but they survived that with hardly any damage. Now, since Sally went off to college now, things had gotten even more difficult.

Casey continued to walk up the stairs and into the kitchen. It was mid-afternoon on a Sunday so the house was rather empty. Derek was laying on the sofa, staring at the television in front of him, like usual. Casey rolled her eyes and grabbed the phone off the hook as it rang and he just ignored it. Speaking of Sally...

"Derek! Phone!" Casey yelled from the kitchen after she talked to Sally for a while and she heard Derek jump up to answer the phone. He walked over to her and grabbed the phone from Casey walking away from her quickly. She rolled her eyes and took a seat at the island in the kitchen. It had been over three years since she moved in and very little felt like it had changed, but it obviously did. Sure her and Derek had their nice moments, especially because they had a lot of mutual friends, but it was usually the same bickering and name calling.

Until now, that is.

* * *

"Casey!" Derek yelled, after having the phone for about forty minutes. Casey jumped up from her lunch that she finally got to making, shocked from Derek's call.

Casey ran downstairs, hoping that Derek was okay. Well, hoping that he wasn't dying at least. Some pain might be amusing, she thought to herself as she ran into his bedroom. Once she reached the room, she immediately had to duck down as the phone was thrown at her. It hit the floor outside of his room and it completely smashed. Casey stared at the phone on the ground in pieces for a moment, before looking at Derek completely bewildered.

"What the hell?" She asked as she stood back up. Derek glared at her and Casey was slightly frightened by him at this moment.

"What did you do? What do you know?" Derek asked, throwing questions at her and backing her into the door.

"About what? What happened?" Casey asked, shaking slightly. Derek had never acted like this around her. They may not have gotten along, but he never came close to physically harming her and that phone came pretty close.

"Sally. You mentioned my relationship with Sally earlier." He said and Casey took a breath, pushing him back a little bit. This was nothing she couldn't handle.

"I said it to get under your skin. I meant nothing by it." She said, snapping at him once she realized what was going on. This was between Derek and some girl, which although Casey and Sally got along, Sally didn't keep in too much contact with Casey while away at school. Whatever Derek and Sally were going though would be over in no time.

"Nothing? Then why did Sally just call me and break up with me. She had been thinking about our relationship and decided that this was just for the best." Derek said confirming that it was over sooner than Casey thought. Her face dropt, when she suddenly realized he thought she had something to do with it.

"I had no idea Derek. I really didn't." Casey said, immediately going into defense mode.

"You didn't know she cheated on me, eh? You didn't have a chat with her about it. Come on Casey, we all know you would love to see me in pain. Why don't you just admit it." Derek said and Casey shrunk back, unable to say anything. After all, she was just thinking about how some pain would be amusing. "That's what I thought." He said, before walking out of his room and up the stairs. She heard the front door slam loudly a few moments later and then everything fell silent.

Although, now she did feel bad that he was in this situation, it still wasn't her fault.

The two of them never had the best of relationships. They fought constantly and the bickering never ended. That didn't change the fact that she still felt bad for him when he was obviously hurting a lot, though he would never admit it, especially to her. Over the past three years they sort of developed an understanding of sorts. They backed each other up when the other was in trouble and they didn't rat each other out anymore. It was probably because they did have a lot of mutual friends now, so their paths did cross a lot more. They were friends in some weird way, through association perhaps. The fighting continued, but nowhere near as bad as it used to. Until right then at least.

* * *

Derek didn't come home until the early hours of the morning. Casey was far past asleep by then, but she was put in charge of waking him up the next morning. Edwin had warned her, when their parents weren't around, that he didn't get in until around four.

She sighed and walked back downstairs. She took a deep breath when she reached his door. She debated whether she should run now, or later. She shook her head lightly, before knocking on the door and then waiting.

No response.

She knocked again, before quietly opening the door. She gave the door a push and rolled her eyes when she saw Derek at his desk. He was on his computer, rapidly playing some video game.

"You're awake?" She asked, not sure if she should believe what she was seeing. He looked up from his game and nodded excessively.

"Never went to sleep." He said and Casey sighed.

"You do know we have school, right?" She asked and he scoffed.

"School is for fools. I got a new plan." He said and Casey rolled her eyes. Another one of his brainless, not thought through completely plans.

"Which is?" She asked and he stood from his wheelie chair.

"I am going to drop out and spend that time begging Sally to take me back. When she finally does, we will move in together and start our lives. I will get a job, maybe two if she wants to go to college and then we will start our family." He said, collapsing on his bed. She sighed and walked over to him. She never thought she would see this day. Derek Venturi fighting for a girl, let alone a girl who cheated on him.

"You know you can't do that. Besides, you don't need Sally." Casey said, trying to comfort the one person she couldn't stand three years ago. She laughed in her head at that thought. She never pictured herself trying to comfort him when he was like this.

"You know what Case, quit pretending like you know everything. You don't know. Simple as that. And don't pull that 'not good enough for you' crap on me. You're the one who keeps going back to Max every time." Derek said and Casey took a step back. He was definitely still in a vile mood. Not to mention she could smell alcohol on his breath, to which she just rolled her eyes.

"Alright, let's try this. Why do you want to be with Sally?" Casey asked and Derek laughed hard at that one.

"Because she doesn't want to be with me. She doesn't fight to be with me. She just lets things coast along." Derek said and Casey raised an eyebrow. She found that hard, very hard, to believe. When they first began dating, they were inseparable.

"That makes no sense. You want to be with someone who doesn't want you? Have you been drinking that much?" Casey asked, knowing that he drank some and Derek laughed once again, this time sitting up.

"Just a bit. I think I want her because she makes me fight for what I want." Derek said and Casey nodded her head, now that he was making sense. He had to fight for what he wanted and he would bend to her will. Not a usual Derek relationship.

"That makes more sense. It's not hard to find that in a girl. Is there anyone else you have any interest in?" She asked, still trying to help, although she didn't know why she even bothered at all. Then again, she didn't want him dropping out of school and Sally's always peppy attitude was starting to bug her, surprisingly enough since she herself was the same way. She didn't realize how much she drove people insane until she began to hang around with Sally. Now she definitely began to change her attitude.

"Plenty, but Sally was the easiest. She was the right one for me." He said and then he paused and Casey could tell there was more that he wanted to say, so she remained silent. "There is only one girl. But I don't really like her, she's just kind of there." He said and Casey raised an eyebrow. He doesn't like this girl, but she is mentioned as one of the girls he likes?

"Okay, um that's weird. You don't like her, but she is a good candidate?" Casey asked, not really following him. Seems to be a trend over the past couple days. There was a moment of silence where Casey wondered how they went from fighting to actually discussing who Derek like and he then continued.

"I guess. Okay, so I guess deep down I do, but she is way outta my league. It's one of those things that will never happen, so you just push it aside." Derek said and Casey smiled, a plan forming in her head.

"How about you tell me who she is and I help you get her." Casey said and Derek laughed harder than he had in a while.

"What's in it for you?" Derek asked and Casey shrugged.

"Helping people is what I'm good at obviously. Plus, we may fight even less." She said and he nodded, realizing that they haven't had any snappy comebacks in a few minutes.

"How about you help me and you can guess who she is later." Derek said and Casey crossed her arms, not thrilled with the idea.

"That's not fair. It will drive me insane." Casey said and Derek smirked.

"That's my part of the deal. Sorry Case, but I have to annoy you in some way." He said, before walking away from her and heading to the bathroom. "Better hurry up, or we will be late for school." He called back to her, before shutting the bathroom door. Casey smiled and headed to her room, relieved that he had dropped the idea about dropping out of school. She didn't want to deal with a huge family melt down this early in the day.

* * *

Derek parked his car in the school parking lot and Casey got out, grabbing her purse and history book. They walked up to the school and towards their lockers. Their lockers were pretty close to one another. Derek was on one side of the hall and Casey was just opposite him and couple down.

He finished up at his locker and walked over to hers, just as a couple of their mutual friends walked over to them. There was the usual Sam, Ralph and Emily, but there was also a couple new people.

"Good morning." Emily said, holding Sam's hand and Casey rolled her eyes. It wasn't that big of a shocker when they started dating last year. Most people saw it coming, especially because Sam was Derek's best friend and Emily was Casey's. What shocked a lot of people was when Ralph and Kendra began dating, especially because Kendra graduated last year. It was out of the blue, but they made a pretty good couple, even with their differences.

"The only thing not good about it, is that it is morning." Derek said, yawning, not sleeping finally catching up to him. Casey rolled her eyes and waved to her friend, Rachel. She stopped walking and Casey said bye to the others, before walking off with her friend.

Rachel had moved here the end of last year. Casey, being the outgoing one that she is, immediately befriended the different girl. She wore mostly dark colors and Casey respected her choice in style. She was also a vegetarian, which Casey envied her for. Casey wanted to be one when she was younger, but she was raised on meat so she stuck with it. She was somewhat the depressing type, but oddly enough the two girls got along. Yet, she didn't get along with most of Casey's other friends, with the exception of Trevor of course. She did get along with Noel though, but that was because they were both the artsy types.

Maybe this is the mystery girl that Derek likes?

Casey thought about that in her head as she walked with Rachel to history. She was pretty attractive after all. She had wavy black hair and fair skin with beautiful green eyes. Plus, she was definitely out of Derek's 'cool guy' league.

"So my mom read my poem last night and she was actually pretty proud of it. I didn't think she would be into it at all." Rachel said as they sat down in their seats in class. The seats were in the back of the class, which was different the Casey's usual thing. Then again, she also brought her math work to class because she didn't do the homework.

"I told you she would understand it." Casey said, setting her bag on the ground and pulling out her math book.

"She said I should have it published in the school paper." Rachel said, handing a copy of the poem to Casey, like she had requested the day before.

"Thank you. I want to show it to my mom. She listens to my stuff after all." Casey said, working on her homework and Rachel laughed. "What did you think your mom was going to do?" Casey asked, referring to why she was so scared to show her mom the poem. She looked at her homework and nodded happily, before grabbing her science book and working on that. History was so easy, she usually didn't pay attention anyway.

"My parents aren't really the artsy type. I was going with somewhere between disowned from the family to freaking out. Like she did when Rebecca asked for birth control. Plus I was only thirteen when I wrote it." Rachel said and Casey laughed, but stopped abruptly when the teacher called for silence. Rachel and Casey exchanged looks, before sitting back in their seats and pretending to pay attention. Rachel really was busy copying Casey's math homework and Casey was working on her science.

* * *

Casey walked down the hall with Trevor and Rachel, heading for the exit. They pushed open the doors, letting the bright sun nearly blind them, as some kid ran up to them. Casey and the other two stopped when the realized it was Rachel's freshman brother.

"Rachel!" He yelled out, making sure she stopped. "Hey. Hi Casey, hi some creepy guy." David said to the guy next to Casey. Trevor narrowed his eyes and watched the boy closely, which seemed to have scared him a bit.

"What do you want, squirt?" Rachel said, annoyed with him, as she usually was whenever Casey had seen him. Which was maybe four or five times by now.

"Mom said she doesn't want you going out after school. She doesn't know where you're going and she thinks you're on drugs." He said and Rachel rolled her eyes. Casey looked at Rachel, along with Trevor, both their eyebrows raised.

"Okay, so the past couple years I've been distant. I spent all my time at home, so now that I'm not at home it's some huge crisis." She explained to the two of them and they just laughed as Derek walked over to them.

"Bring your friends. Mom will probably have a party when she finds out you have friends." Her brother said and Rachel rolled her eyes, looking over at the other two, who shrugged their shoulders, agreeing to come over, just as Derek walked over to them.

"What's going on?" He asked, draping his arms around Casey and Rachel's neck.

"Mom will love him." David said jokingly and Rachel laughed, shrugging out of Derek's grasp, taking a step away.

"Mom will want to adopt Casey." Rachel said and Casey raised an eyebrow, about to ask what was going on, when Derek told her that they had to go. "Case, be at my house in an hour. You know where it is." Rachel said, before walking off with her brother.

* * *

"When did you become friends with that new girl?" Derek asked later on, driving Casey over to Rachel's house. Casey rolled her eyes at him, before sighing.

"She moved in last year, so she's not new. Plus she is a pretty cool girl." She said, pointing at the street Derek needed to turn down. He turned, not responding to her right away.

"She doesn't seem like your type of friend." Derek said and Casey rolled her eyes, wondering why he was bringing it up. He knew they were friends, they had spent all summer together and they were inseparable so far this school year.

"Maybe I'm different then I was when you called me Polly Preppy pants." Casey said, smirking at him as he pulled into the driveway next to Trevor's car. Derek laughed and shut off the car, making Casey raise an eyebrow.

"What? I have to meet the parents." Derek said and Casey narrowed her eyes at him, before getting out of the car.

Maybe this is the girl he likes. I don't think I want my best friend and step-brother dating though. That wouldn't make a good excuse though. I dated his best friend and he didn't like it at all. Then again, I don't want him dropping out of school either. Maybe I should help him get Rachel.

"Are you going to knock?" Derek asked and Casey snapped out of her daze, before nodding and knocking on the door. It was a couple moments before the front door swung open.

"If your selling something, I don't want to buy it." The lady said from the door when she had taken in Casey appearance. She was a bigger women and she did indeed frighten Casey and Derek a bit.

"Sorry, but were not selling anything. I am one of Rachel's friends." Casey said and a man appeared behind the lady. They both laughed and Casey wasn't quite sure why. Derek nodded to Casey, before walking back to the car. Casey shot him a dirty look as he left before turning back around to Rachel's parents.

"Mom! Dad! Stop harassing my friend." Casey heard Rachel yell, before rushing to the door and rescuing Casey.

"Sorry Rachel, but aren't you going to introduce us to your very polite friend." The mom said and Casey wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not.

"Mom, Dad, this is Casey. Casey this is Beverly and Harold." Rachel said, running a hand through her wavy black hair. Harold walked over to Casey and stuck his hand out and Casey took it, shaking it.

"How much would it cost us to trade Rachel for you?" Harold asked laughing heartily and Casey nervously laughed, a bit unsure of what was going on. Trevor walked downstairs, saving Casey from having to answer.

"Hey, why didn't you want me?" He asked and both Harold and Beverly exchanged serious looks.

"Well you see, Casey is a polite girl. You're just the male version of Rachel." Beverly said honestly with her hands clasped together in front of her and Casey laughed, finally understanding why Rachel was usually so sarcastic and sassy, even when it came to authoritative figures.

"I'm not sure if that is a compliment or not." Rachel said, crossing her arms and obviously growing impatient.

"Can we at least adopt you?" Beverly asked, a smirk on her face and Casey wasn't sure how to respond. Thankfully she was saved once again.

"See that's where I draw the line. When I have to share your love, it's time for us to go away from you." Rachel said, before leading Casey and Trevor upstairs. Casey followed her down the hall and into a bedroom that had to be Rachel's just because of how it had been decorated. Casey also immediately noticed an empty bed on the other side of the room.

"Rebecca's bed?" Casey asked, remembering that Rachel mentioned her older sister a few times.

"Yeah. Mom and dad keep it in hopes that she will leave Mark and move back in." She said, sitting on her own bed, going through the stuff next to it. Casey nods, sitting on Rebecca's old bed.

"I didn't know your sister was married." Trevor said, laying down on Rebecca's bed. Rachel laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, neither did we at first. She married some loser from high school and moved away with him. Well my parents decided to pull the same thing with her and moved away, too. The only thing is, now she never calls along with never visiting, therefore their plan backfired." Rachel said, which led to why they ended up in Canada. Casey was sure there had to be more reasons than that to make them just up and move like that.

"Okay, here's another question. Am I really that much of a good girl that your parents are shocked that I'm your friend?" Casey asked and the other two had to keep from laughing by covering their mouths.

"No offence Case, but you define the good girl." Trevor said, once he finally was able to hold back his laughter. Casey pursed her lips, not really happy with her label.

"Well I can make you more like me and Trevor." Rachel suggested noticing Casey's sour look and Trevor raised an eyebrow.

"You can give Casey a makeover. I didn't think you had that programed in you." He said and Rachel laughed sarcastically.

"I shared a room with Rebecca for sixteen years. I can do anything." She said, pulling out a paper bag from the mess next to her bed. Trevor jumped up and rushed over to Rachel, smacking her hand. "What the hell!" She yelled, standing up.

"Don't bring that out in front of Casey." He said and Casey stood up, walking over to them, confused as to why she couldn't see what was in the bag.

"What's going on?" Casey asked, standing in between the two of them.

"Okay, I have pot, but I wasn't going to tell you to smoke it or anything." Rachel said and Casey laughed sitting down on the bed. Trevor raised an eyebrow and laid back down in his spot.

"Case, this usually isn't your thing. To do or be around or even hear anything about." Trevor said and Casey turned around and looked at him.

"Yeah, but I was kind of thinking that I might like that whole makeover thing. I mean, maybe I will be able to find someone even better then Max, just be more open to try things." Casey said and Rachel laughed, happy that Casey was over the football player.

"So wait, you're going to smoke?" Rachel said, handing the joint towards her, not sure if she was actually going to do it or not. Casey grabbed it and looked at it in her hand, not sure if she wanted to say yes or no. "No pressure Case, I swear. This is all up to you." Rachel said, not wanting her friend to think she was pressuring her.

"Maybe next time." Casey said, suddenly not ready to jump right in. The other two exchanged looks, before she told them to go ahead because she didn't mind. The two of them simply shrugged their shoulders and continued with what they were doing.

* * *

Casey climbed into Derek's car, fifteen minutes after she called him to pick her up from Rachel's house. She sat down and put her seatbelt on, not saying anything. Derek put the car in reverse and pulled out of the driveway, before taking off down the street.

"You smell like pot." Derek said bluntly, killing the silence. Casey sat up straight, never having thought about the smell.

"Do I seriously smell that much like it?" Casey asked worriedly. Derek laughed and reached over into his glove compartment, pulling out body spray.

"You will smell like a guy, but its better then smelling like pot." He said and Casey sprayed it on herself a few times. "So since when do you smoke?" Derek asked and Casey raised an eyebrow at him. It's not like she smoked, but it wasn't like it was his business anyway.

"Since when do you care?" She asked as Derek reached into his leather jacket, pulling out his cigarettes, making Casey roll her eyes. "Are you ever going to stop that? If my mom or your dad found out that you smoked, they would kill you." Casey said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah, yeah. But why do you care then? You would find it amusing if Nora and dad wanted to tear me one." Derek said and Casey laughed at him, while that was one of the many reasons why she stopped Derek from dropping out, other than obviously ruining his life.

"Not as amusing as I would have when we were fifteen." Casey said, nudging him in the arm and he shook his head, smirking.

"So why do you care then?" Derek asked and Casey remained quiet for a moment.

"'Cause it's bad for you. And even you shouldn't be this stupid." Casey said and Derek rolled his eyes smirking.

"Just admit it. You care about your brother." Derek said and Casey laughed lightly.

"Maybe a little. But not as my brother, more as my friend. I see you as more a friend than as a brother." Casey said and Derek nodded his head in agreement.

"Friends." He said and Casey nodded her head once, agreeing with their friendship. They were silent for a bit longer, before Casey finally decided to ask if Rachel was the girl.

"So, Derek. About the girl you like, is it someone I know?" She asked and Derek laughed a bit, somewhat nervous sounding.

"Yeah, I guess we can say that you would know her." He said and Casey smirked.

"Is she kind of the artsy type?" She asked and Derek swallowed, seemingly more nervous.

"Eh, yeah. Which is why I kind of pushed it out of my head. Well one of the reasons." He said and Casey nodded to herself. Definitely Rachel. Derek isn't really the artsy type, so him liking an artsy girl was out of character. Plus another reason would be because she was the weird somewhat new girl and one of Casey's friends. Definitely not his usual. Casey thought about this to herself before speaking.

"I know who it is." She said and Derek froze after putting the car into park in the driveway.

"You do?" Derek asked, trying to make sure he didn't stutter.

"Yeah, but I won't tell her until I show you how to woe her." Casey said, smirking at Derek, who blinked a few times.

"Wha- oh yeah that would be great." He said and Casey eyed him for a second before nodding. She laughed a bit before getting out of the car and walking towards the house, Derek following her slowly, not sure what he was getting himself into anymore.


	2. Between Right

**A/n:**** So I got a plan, outline, for this story. Just a basic idea of what I want to happen. The first three chapters take place the end of senior year, including graduation. It's my way of building the foundation for the story. The following chapters will have a bigger time span in each chapter. My plan is two chapters per year, nice and long chapters, covering the important details of those six months.**

**So first three chapters, March to June of senior year. They also have the same song in each of them. Fucked up situation by Darkest Days... Starting with Chapter four, the even chapters will be fall/winter and the odd chapters will be spring/summer.**

**Also, my story is rated M. There will be drugs, sex, violence... well I'm sure it will be all in it once I write it. Don't read if you'll be offended. I like drama and I've really gotten in to Pretty Little Liars, Gossip Girl, Veronica Mars, Weeds and a bunch of other stuff, so I have a few different plots running through my mind. If there is anything you'd like to see, I'd love to hear your idea.**

**I think that's it...**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_It's a fucked up fascination_

_It's a fucked up situation_

_She likes it rough and I do too_

_Her knees are turning black and blue…_

…_So we hope nobody finds us_

_Cause we both know the truth_

"I really don't know about this." Casey said as Rachel went through her closet. Rachel paid no attention to her, as she looked through the closet, throwing a lot of clothes out and replacing it with a lot of her old clothes that she brought over. Casey sat on her bed, watching a lot of pink fly out of her closet, mixed in with some other bright and vibrant colors.

"Trust me. Guys love girly girls, but girls with backbones catch their attention quicker. Guys like girly girls because they think that they are easy. But the ones with attitudes make them curious to learn more, without adding in the slut factor." She said adding a lot of black and red to Casey's closet.

"Hey! I am not a slut." Casey said and Rachel laughed.

"I know that, but guys don't. Look at all the cheerleaders you were friends with before. They don't have the best reputation and they weren't giving you a good one either." Rachel said and Casey raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Casey asked and Rachel whipped around.

"Oh my. You never heard the rumors did you?" Rachel said, completely shocked that Casey never heard the rumors that went around about her. Casey stood up and walked over to Rachel.

"What rumors?" Casey asked, her face twisted with anger. Not at Rachel, but at all the people she called friends.

"Well they're not pretty. Basically what I got was you used to go to an all-girl school." She said beginning and Casey interrupted her.

"I did. What does that have to do with anything?" Casey asked and Rachel held up a hand, telling Casey to let her finish.

"Basically the school thinks that girls from an all-girl school are a bit wild, so they think you are a bit wild and adventurous, I guess, underneath the preppy good girl exterior. Well then I also heard the school saying that you lost your virginity to Sam, Derek's friend." Rachel said and Casey jumped into a fit of rage.

"I'll kill him. I never slept with him. I should have known dating Derek's best friend would come back and bite me in the ass!" Casey yelled and Rachel put her hands on Casey's shoulders.

"Sam said the same thing. He told everyone who was spreading the rumor that he never slept with you. He defended you." Rachel said and Casey smiled, sitting down on her bed. Then she realized that Rachel had more to say. "They then said that you moved on some random poor guy. They said he was a soccer couch in another school district and that you used him to make Sam jealous. Then when that ended you dated Max. Rumors died down and then came back when you broke up with him saying you need to find yourself. People assumed you meant that you needed someone different in your bed and that you moved onto Noel to fill that space.

Apparently that one lost you popularity so they said you went back to Max. It gained you popularity points again and he found out about your scheme and dumped you and you moved onto Trevor. According to the rumors you guys hooked up at a party and dated for a while, before it ended, but you maintain a friends with benefits thing. Then you begged for Max back and you dated for a bit until now." Rachel said and Casey just stared at her, her jaw dropt and her eyes nearly popping out of her head. She was speechless for a while, but Rachel knew it wouldn't last long. Once she found something to say, she would rant. A lot.

"So everyone thinks I some slutty social climber!" Casey yelled and Rachel nodded. Casey's face dropt and she began to think. "Who would drop that low to make me look like a slut. To make me more popular, but only because I sleep my way to the top." Casey said before her jaw dropt. She jumped up from the bed and hopped over the clothes piles to Rachel.

"Watch it, killer." Rachel said as Casey charged at her.

"Did Emily start these rumors?" Casey asked, her voice completely serious. Rachel nodded a bit, shrugging slightly.

"I heard it from Trevor, but he wasn't spreading it. I asked him about what everyone was saying and he told me what was going on. I followed it through and it ended with Emily. She started it to climb the social ladder herself. Well, according to Trevor, but we could both be wrong." Rachel said and Casey narrowed her eyes.

"I did not sleep with all those people. Sure I did with Max, but that was because he was the guy I honestly thought I would spend the rest of my life with." Casey said and Rachel nodded her head, knowing Casey had more to say. "Okay, and I did once with Trevor, but that was a drunken fling. I was upset about Max, we both got drunk together, had sex and dated for a month. Then we decided to overlook the whole thing." Casey said and Rachel nodded, not looking directly at Casey.

"There's more." Rachel said, making Casey sit on her bed in amazement. "They think you have something with Derek, too. Before you fly off the deep end, let me explain what I know. They think that you have something with Derek because he didn't want you dating Sam and you didn't like him dating all those girls one after another. When his relationship with Kendra ended, not long later your relationship with Max ended. Now your relationship with Max ended again and his relationship with Sally just ended." Rachel said and Casey jumped up.

"Did Emily start this one, too?" Casey asked, ready to run next door and kill her now old friend.

"No she didn't." Rachel said and Casey's face twisted with extreme anger. "I think I'm going to head home for dinner. I'll come over later tonight to pick out an outfit for you." Rachel said, before rushing out of the room before Casey exploded.

"DER-REK!" Casey yelled, storming out of her room and into Derek's room. She threw open the door and saw him lying on his bed, listening to his Walkman. She walked over to him, yanking him out of his bed by his arm. He jumped up in shock as Casey pushed him into a wall. He pulled his headphones off his head, before pushing her off of him.

"What the hell did I do now?" Derek asked, holding her back by her shoulders.

"You are so sick! Starting rumors about me and you! Are you serious!" Casey yelled, smacking his arm in-between sentences, making Derek's eye go big.

"What are you talking about? What rumors?" He asked, honestly freaked at and Casey took a step back.

"So you didn't start those rumors, but who did if Emily didn't." Casey to herself, much less irate, and Derek raised an eyebrow.

"What rumors?" Derek asked again, completely bewildered, and Casey rolled her eyes.

"Emily is telling everyone that I am a slut just to be popular. I am going to kill that social climbing whore." Casey said and Derek raised an eyebrow.

"What does this have to do with me?" Derek asked and Casey laughed.

"Well someone else says that me and you have a thing going on because neither of us can keep a relationship." Casey said and Derek's eyes went big.

"Who would say that?" Derek asked and Casey eyed him.

"Did you piss of Kendra to make her start a rumor like that?" She asked and he rapidly shook his head.

"Did you piss any of your ex's off?" Derek asked and Casey shook her head.

"No. I'm pretty good friends with all of them. Any crushes that you turned down?" Casey asked and Derek laughed.

"Plenty, but they are loyal fans." Derek said in a cocky manner, making Casey roll her eyes at him. "What about you? Didn't that Tinker guy have a huge crush on you?" Derek asked and Casey bit her lip.

"Yeah, but he kind of left me alone for a while." Casey said and Derek narrowed his eyes.

"But he is sore about you turning him down. And we all know that he doesn't like me very much." Derek said and Casey frowned.

"He does have the resources to pull it off. He is the eyes and ears of the school." Casey said and Derek nodded and then shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. He graduated last year. He may have started the rumors, but the school is now finishing them." Derek said and Casey rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

"I bet Emily is helping the rumors along. That stupid pregnant bitch." Casey said out of complete anger, but it made Derek freeze and look at her.

"Pregnant?" Derek said and Casey turned and looked at him.

"Oops. Well it doesn't really matter anymore, I guess. I'm not going to be her secret keeper anymore." Casey said, sitting on Derek's bed. He eyed her from his chair by his computer, waiting for her to continue. He rolled his eyes. Obviously she would need to be pushed.

"So Emily is pregnant? My best friend's girlfriend is pregnant?" Derek asked and Casey nodded, leaning back on her arms.

"Yeah. And Sam doesn't know which is why you don't know, so don't go blaming him. The only people who know are me and Emily. I'd like to see who she brings with to see the doctor this weekend, 'cause I am not going." Casey said and Derek raised an eyebrow.

"I have to tell Sam. He needs to know he is going to be a father." Derek said, reaching for his cell phone, making Casey jump up and smack it out of his hand.

"Not yet. I may hate Emily, but I don't hate Sam. See the thing is Emily isn't sure if Sam is the father." Casey said, causing Derek to nearly fall out of his chair. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, then again I wasn't supposed to tell anyone she is pregnant, but it also might be Noel." Casey said and Derek eyed her, before finally speaking.

"So Emily has been cheating on Sam with Noel, your artsy ex-boyfriend who obviously is pining for Grace." Derek said, moving his hands back and forth as he jumped from person to person in the twisted web. Casey nodded, sitting back on his bed.

"Emily was apparently helping him win over the actual school slut, aka Grace, when she slept with him. As well as the second and third time she slept with him." Casey said and Derek sat in awe, not sure what to say anymore. "Don't freak him out if you don't have to, okay?" Casey said to him and he nodded his head.

"You can miss that appointment, but don't end your friendship just yet. You need to find out who the father is before you end it." Derek said to her firmly and she pursed her lips, wondering if Emily would be devious enough to lie and say Sam was the father if he wasn't.

Then again, she was cheating on Sam and she completely backstabbed her, so devious seemed to fit her well enough.

* * *

Derek sat in the car waiting for Casey so they could go to school. Emily waved at him as she climbed in Sam's car when he came to pick her up for school that morning. He waved at Sam, who waved back and he completely avoided looking at Emily. She didn't seem to notice though. They drove off, which made Derek annoyed because he was still waiting for Casey.

He ran his hands over his face, rubbing his eyes when he heard the front door shut and the passenger door open.

"Finally." He said, starting the car. Casey shut the passenger door and Derek looked at her, making him brake in the middle of the driveway. He stared at her in complete shock. He knew she wanted to change things up a bit, but didn't think she would change that much in one night. She was wearing a tight red shirt, low cut, with fishnet sleeves, that had a black design all over it. Her pants were black and slightly baggy, which made him look at her in utter shock.

"We're going to be late if you don't hurry." Casey said, trying to hide her smirk. She had still kept her hair and makeup simple. Changing her wardrobe this much was drastic enough for her to start off with.

"Uh yeah, sure. New look is definitely different. Looks good though, even if it is just a passing phase." Derek said in complete awe. Casey simply laughed.

"Well it's good to know I have your approval. My mom freaked and I thought you would as well." Casey said, putting on her seatbelt as he backed out of the drive way. Truth be told he did like the change, even though he was very much still getting used to it. It brought out a new side to her and it didn't change the way he felt. It wasn't as drastic as she looked when she was trying to win a bet by dating Trevor, but it was definitely different from her normal.

* * *

Casey walked in the school with Derek as per usual, but this time people were staring at her, mostly all of them in shock. Derek tried not to laugh as he walked over to his locker and Casey over to hers. She opened her locker and noticed a kid a couple lockers down staring at her. She turned to look at him and glared.

"What are you looking at?" She said to him in a angered voice and he quickly walked away from her. Casey smirked to herself, proud with how much she had soaked up from Rachel, and grabbed her bag from her locker. She shut her locker and turned around to see Rachel walking over to her. She hiked her bag up and headed over to her, just as Grace walked up to her.

"Nice outfit Casey." She said, blocking her way. Casey crossed her arms and looked at the blonde bimbo in front of her. That was not a shot at blondes, she really was.

"Yeah, I think you forgot to get dressed after your shower." Casey said, pointing to her short, green, strapless dress. It came up high on her thighs and low on her chest and it was a mint green color. She was carrying a small white jacket, which she would put on before classes began to keep herself from breaking dress code.

"Excuse me Miss. Bitch. I guess being civil isn't a trait of yours." Grace said, crossing her arms as well. She then looked over her shoulder and flipped her hair. "Hey Max." She yelled out in a flirty voice, before she walked away, swaying her hips over to the quarterback. Casey rolled her eyes as Rachel walked up to her.

"What did she want?" She asked as they headed off to class.

"Annoy me? I don't know. She walked up to me and began talking to me which was annoying." Casey said and Rachel laughed. "I must say that I love the reactions I'm getting from people." Casey said, shaking her hands at some kid who was staring at her. Rachel nodded as they walked into their classroom and took their usual seats.

Casey and Rachel exited their last class, both exhausted from a full day of school and work. They were both pretty happy though, as they threw their books in their locker, because they finished their homework in all their classes. Casey stretched and leaned against her locker as Trevor walked up to the two of them.

"I must say, Case, you definitely pull off the look." He said in a sexual voice, leaning on the locker next to Rachel's. They usually joked around a bit like that, but it never meant anything, just an inside joke. Casey smiled, before yawning widely. Then without notice, Emily pushed Trevor and Rachel out of the way and pulled Casey aside.

"What do you think you're doing?" Emily said and Casey narrowed her eyes at her.

"I'm changing things up a bit. I definitely like this better." She said moving herself out of Emily's grip.

"Are you kidding me? You worked your ass off to get up the ladder and now that you're on the top you have decided to become one of your outcast friends!" Emily yelled in the middle of her rant and Casey just rolled her eyes.

"You're just mad because now you have to find way to keep yourself on top. You just used me to become popular. Your nothing but a backstabbing whore." Casey said, pushing past a shocked Emily. She walked over to Trevor and Rachel, before the three of them exited the school. It wasn't until she was down the hall that she realized she told Derek she would keep up appearances with Emily for the time being.

* * *

Derek watched the three of them from the hood of his car. He watched Casey laugh with them and he hadn't seen her so happy in such a long time. He will admit that he was shocked with her new wardrobe, that wasn't instigated by a bet, but she looked good in it and it seemed to suit her pretty well.

"What did Casey do?" Sam asked, making Derek snap out of his thoughts. Derek raised an eyebrow, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"What do you mean?" He asked, exhaling the smoke when he finished speaking.

"The wardrobe for one. Then she just went off on Emily, calling her a backstabbing whore." Sam said and Derek laughed, leaning back on his hood, continuing to smoke his cigarette. Derek was honestly surprised that Casey just couldn't hold her temper.

"Emily is the one you should be worried about. She's the one who is pregnant." Derek said, causing Sam to drop his book, letting it land on the car.

"What?" Sam asked after a few moments, reaching for his book in shock. Derek dropped his head down on the hood of his car, unable to believe he just blurted that out after thinking about how Casey couldn't control herself.

"Oh shit. Um, how about you pretend you never heard that?" Derek asked, remembering he promised Casey he wouldn't tell anyone just yet.

"Come on D." Sam said pleading with him, trying to find out information on his girlfriend.

"She's pregnant and she didn't tell you because she is not sure if the baby is yours or not." Derek said and Sam held his stomach suddenly feeling sick. Derek did feel bad for how his friend was feeling right now, but he needed to know. He would just have to tell Casey later that he told him.

"Well I have a girlfriend I need to talk to." Sam said after a few minutes of processing, walking away from Derek without waiting for a response. He wanted to stop him and tell him to wait, but Sam did have the right to do what he wanted to do with Emily. After all she cheated on him.

"Hey Derek." Casey said as the three of them walked up to the car.

"Took you long enough. I was getting bored of waiting." He said, tossing his cigarette aside and getting off the hood of his car. Casey rolled her eyes and motioned for the other two to get in the back seat.

"They're coming back to the house." Casey said when Derek gave her a weird look.

"Well it's a good thing today was an early release day. I think you three might scare the kids a bit." Derek said and Trevor narrowed his eyes at him. Derek raised an eyebrow at him, before getting in the car. Once everyone was in it he started the car and drove out of the school parking lot. "Oh by the way, Case, I told Sam about Emily." Derek said and Casey just shrugged.

"I figured you would have. No surprises." Casey said, not really caring, and Derek just shook his head, driving towards their house. "I would have told him myself after I snapped on Emily, but I figured you would get to it before me anyways." She admitted and he nodded his head, while Trevor and Rachel exchanged confused looks in the back seat.

* * *

Derek pulled into the drive way and the three quickly exited the car. They immediately went downstairs and to the further door. Last year, Nora found out she was pregnant and the family immediately had to make changes so they could fit in another child. The original plan was to make the one bedroom into two bedrooms in the basement. One for Nora and George and one for the baby.

Well Casey simply couldn't imagine the baby growing up in the basement, so she offered to take one room, forcing Derek to take the other room. It worked out well though. The baby got Derek's old room and Nora and George got their old room back.

Nora had the baby in early September. A baby boy named Noah. He was a decently well behaved baby, especially for being a Venturi. He was in daycare during the day, since the kids had school and the parents had work. Nora and George would pick him up on their way home and Derek and Casey usually dropt him off. Not all the time, because sometimes Nora had time, but when she didn't, the teens volunteered to do it.

They usually don't get home from work until six these days, in which the time is spent hunting down their other children and getting dinner ready. Nora would put Noah down after feeding him and the family eats dinner at eight now. The point was that the Casey and Derek would be at the house after school usually ten minutes before three in the afternoon. Lizzie, Edwin and Marti don't even get out of school until half past three and with the bus route, plus any activities, they are home after four and before eight, depending on the day.

Casey opened her bedroom door and let the other two in, before closing it behind her. They dropped their bags by the door and took a seat at random places in the room. Casey went over to the window and open it, before turning on a fan, as well as the ceiling fan. She nodded to Rachel who pulled out her paper bag once again, just as they heard Derek walk into his own room and shut the door.

"Are you sure about this Case?" Rachel asked, referring to if she was sure about smoking for the first time. Casey laughed and nodded, while Rachel began to prepare everything.

"I feel safer at home. Besides, everyone is too lazy to walk down here and check on us if we are here when they get home. That is, unless they know something is wrong, or it is important." Casey said rambling a bit from being nervous. After all, she spent quite some time thinking about it before she decided to finally try it.

* * *

It wasn't long until Casey and Rachel were laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling and talking. Each giggle made Trevor twitch, too. Apparently being the only guy most of the time was catching up to him.

"So have you seen the new guy?" Rachel asked and Casey laughed, watching her ceiling fan spin.

"He's not new. He's been here for like six months." Casey said and Rachel laughed.

"Okay, so you have seen him." Rachel said and Casey nodded. "Well then you may happy to hear that I heard that he likes you." Rachel said and Casey was quiet for a moment before smiling. "He likes you because you are different. You can be the popular one and the outcast without worrying about what people think." Rachel said and Casey began to shake with excitement. Trevor rolled his eyes and stood up.

"High or not, I'd rather talk to Derek then listen to this." He said before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the next room and walked in, sitting on Derek's chair. Derek looked up from his computer, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, can I help you?" Derek asked and Trevor rolled his eyes.

"I'm friends with two girls, what do you think?" Trevor said, not really making it a question, but Derek still answered it.

"Girls can be exhausting to listen to, especially when they are together." Derek said and Trevor laughed.

"Yep. High or not, I'd rather not listen." Trevor said and Derek laughed, rolling his eyes, his mind drifting to Casey, wondering when she got the nerve to smoke in the house. He used to slip out his window and smoke on the rooftop, but that was before they were moved to the basement. "You don't like Rachel do you?" Trevor asked, pretty much out of nowhere, making Derek nearly fall out of his chair.

"I have no problem with her. All of you are pretty cool, I guess." Derek said, using his hands while he spoke. Trevor shook his head.

"I don't mean friend wise." Trevor said and Derek's eyes widened.

"Oh, no. She's all yours." Derek said, making Trevor narrow his eyes at him. "I'm sorry, but it's obvious. Maybe not to everyone, but I can see it clear as day." Derek said and Trevor laughed a bit, before speaking again.

"Well no worries. I don't like Casey like that. She's like a sister to me." Trevor said, making Derek raise an eyebrow.

"Come again?" Derek asked, not sure what Trevor was getting at exactly.

"You have deep seeded feelings for her." Trevor pointing out and Derek shook his head quickly jumping into defend himself.

"What? No, no. I don't like her." He said, scrunching up his face and still shaking his head. "No, of course not. Not at all. Maybe just curious. And you know, I mean, she does... she does smell nice."

"Well that just made it even more obvious. It's not that hard to see, except for maybe Casey, plus I think most people are just blind to it. She's the one who thought you had a thing for Rachel, by the way." Trevor said and Derek stood up, moving over to his bed, grabbing his pack from the shelf. He took a cigarette out offering one to Trevor, who only took one because it made this conversation less awkward. Derek was the popular cool guy and Trevor was the outcast. Kind of weird.

"Don't say anything about it. I'm on dangerous territory here." Derek said and Trevor nodded understanding the situation.

"I don't know if she likes you back though. I can try to find out, but so far I got nothing for you to go on. She's a complicated girl." Trevor said and Derek laughed, looking at Trevor carefully. Was he honestly offering to help Derek find out if his step-sister liked him? Was he really dense enough to try that?

"Yeah she is." Derek said, before the girls came walking in the room. They crossed their arms and looked at the guys, who looked like they were having a decent chat.

"Trevor we got to get going. Their siblings will be home soon." Rachel said and Trevor nodded, getting out of the chair. They said a quick goodbye, before exiting out of the backdoor. Casey sat on the bed and smiled at Derek.

"So Rachel told me Cory likes me." Casey said laughing, still pretty out of it. Derek rolled his eyes, sick of playing the friend after the short conversation he just had with Trevor. Casey was trying to set him up with her best friend and it was bound to cause a mess.

"Really. The new guy. Cool." Derek said, trying to make it sound like he was interested. He already had to listen to her rant about Max. That wasn't as bad though, because he was able to rant about Sally.

"Yeah, so I figured you could tell me who you liked now." Casey said and Derek laughed, about to get up when Casey pushed him back down.

"You said you would figure it out on your own." Derek said and Casey sighed, laying down next to him.

"My guess is Rachel." Casey said and Derek laughed. Trevor was right.

"Nope. Nice try though." Derek said and Casey whined.

"Come on I won't judge you." Casey said, yawning once again. She was yawning a lot at school, and even now that she was home, she was yawning. She rolled over and rested her head on Derek's chest, causing him to stiffen his body. "You're comfortable." Casey said quietly, quickly drifting off to sleep. Derek relaxed when she was laying there for a couple minutes and he was pretty sure she was asleep.

"I can't tell you because no one will ever look at me that same." Derek said, showing a sleeping Casey a different side to his bad cool guy exterior. He moved some hair from her face, before closing his eyes. He was tempted to just lay there and fall asleep because the chance that he would have her laying her like this again was very slim. However, knowing that he wasn't going to admit his feelings, he slid out from underneath her and left his room, not daring to look back fearing he would crawl back into the bed.


	3. And Wrong

**A/n:**** This is the last chapter that uses fucked up situation for song lyrics, which is still by darkest days. The previous chapter took place in March and now it is almost graduation. After this, they will be in college, in case you were lost on time span. I think that's all I have...**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_Three months later..._

_It's a fucked up situation_

_So we lock the door behind us_

_Cause we both know the truth_

_It's a fucked up situation_

_When the one that you love is never enough_

_It's a fucked up fascination_

_When the one that you trust is trading for lust_

"If you're trying to get under Casey's skin, why are you still going after Max? There's only a week left until graduation. One week left to get under her skin for good." Emily asked, a smirk playing on her lips. Grace crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? Max is her on again off again. Of course to piss her off I would go after him." Grace said, leaning against the locker and hiking her skirt up a couple more inches. Max was going to walk by any second.

"Come on Grace. Your smarter than that. To get under her skin, go you for Derek." Emily said and Grace lip turned up a bit, waiting to hear what Emily had to say.

"What do you know?" Grace said, turning to Emily.

"Their pretty good friends and Casey can't stand you. You going after Derek will get under her skin. Plus Derek is a man whore, he won't be able to resist. No matter how much he likes Casey." Emily said and Grace's mouth dropt.

"Wait, Derek likes Casey. His step-sister?" Grace said in a quiet voice. Emily just laughed, pulling down her shirt a bit that was now becoming too small to wear if she wanted to hide her stomach.

"It's obvious to people who know him well. He's liked her for a while, but he pushed it aside, but now that there hanging out his feelings are resurfacing. If you get him to pay attention to you, he will ignore Casey again." Emily said, getting back at Casey for the trouble she caused her by telling Derek. Sam wasn't talking to her now and Noel knew about the whole thing. So right now she was pregnant, single and trying to figure out who the father was, all thanks to Casey and Derek.

"And here he comes now. Go away I don't want him to see me with you." Grace said, moving a couple lockers down so she was by Derek's. Emily quickly snuck away, making sure to send Derek a dirty look when they passed. He went to his locker and opened it up, tossing his books in there. "Hey Derek." Grace said in a quiet, seductive voice.

"Grace." Derek said, not looking at her. It was the weekend and he needed to make sure he had everything he needed. Screw that. Derek didn't bring homework home. Especially on the weekend.

"Stop acting so serious. It doesn't suit you." She said, getting rather close to him. He turned to look at her and she clung right up to him, her chest against his.

"Well hello there." Derek said in his usual flirting tone. Hey, he is a guy.

"So I was thinking we should head over to your house this weekend. Your room more specifically." Grace whispered in his ear, standing on her tip toes.

"My parents are gone for the weekend, too. What a coincidence." Derek said and Grace smiled, running her hand down to his pants.

"Give me a call." She said , before walking away. Derek watched her leave, just as Casey walked up to him.

"Don't tell me I'm helping you get Grace." Casey said, watching her walk away, swaying her hips.

"Nope. She's too easy to need help with. I think I'm just going to give up on the other girl. There is no way it will happen." Derek said and Casey hit him on the chest.

"You better hope that girl doesn't hear you saying that. No girl likes to be given up on. We've been at this for three months and I don't feel like you've tried to make any progress." Casey said, before Derek laughed at the irony. He said he would see her in a couple minutes at the car and she rolled her eyes. She kicked the locker, angry that Derek was going back to his old ways.

"Was the locker being mean?" Cory asked, making Casey jump.

"Huh. Oh no, it was just the closest thing to me." She said, shaking the pain out of her foot, and he smiled.

"So I was thinking that we could get together this weekend." Cory said and Casey smiled shyly at him.

"My parents are out of town this weekend." She said and he smiled.

"So we can get dinner tonight and head back to your house for dessert." Cory said and Casey nodded unknowingly. "I'll pick you up at six." Cory said, before walking away. Casey watched him leave, before snapping out of her thoughts. She just invited him to her house with no parents.

"Did you just invite Cory to your house?" Rachel asked and Casey nodded.

"Yeah I was thinking about that just now. I'm sure nothing will happen though. He seems pretty sweet. Maybe a little fooling around, but who can honestly deny him that." Casey said and Rachel laughed, before they headed out of the building, looking for Trevor.

* * *

Casey dropped her school bag by the front door when she was dropped off by Trevor after hanging out. She walked into the kitchen, ignoring Marti who was sitting on the couch watching TV. Once she was in the kitchen she grabbed the note off the counter and quickly read it. All it said was to watch the kids and the phone numbers they could be reached at. No big deal. The major plus was that they took Noah with them. All Casey and Derek had to deal with was nine year old Marti and two teenagers.

"Let me get this straight you're paying us to go out?" Edwin asked, walking into the kitchen with Lizzie and Derek, both of the younger teens were holding ten dollars.

"Yep. I have a date and if I heard correctly, so does Casey." Derek said, before turning around, looking for his little sister. "Smarti!" He called out before realizing she was on the couch. He then went over to bribe his little sister.

"The funny part is I have a date with Jamie anyway. Then I'm staying at a friend's house." Lizzie said, pocketing the money. Edwin laughed.

"I was going to be out anyway, too. Oh well, free money." Edwin said and the two teens high fived and Casey rolled her eyes. She quickly grabbed a bottle of water and headed downstairs to get ready. Half way down the stairs, her cell phone began to go off. She rolled her eyes and pulled it out of her pocket, flipping it open.

"I'm assuming you're going to tell me what to wear?" Casey asked Rachel, already knowing it would be her.

"There is a low cut purple tank top. Wear that with one of the black skirts I gave you. I suggest the one that's kind of frizzy." Rachel said and Casey nodded, grabbing the tank top and 'frizzy', black skirt.

"The one that is like those spiny skirts, but frizzy?" Casey asked, just to be sure and she heard Rachel sigh.

"Yes. And don't compare it to those spiny skirts." Rachel said, making Casey laughed. They talked for a few more moments, before Casey told her that she really needed to start getting ready. She dropt her phone on the bed after plugging it into the charger. She headed into the hall and towards the bathroom. The door was closed, so she knocked, waited a few seconds and then went in.

Empty.

She swatted at the door to shut it, doing a pathetic job, but she didn't care. She had two hours to shower and get ready. She turned on the radio and started the shower, before stripping off her clothes and getting in the shower.

Casey sang along with the song when the radio died out. Damn Batteries. She thought to herself, rinsing the rest of the soap off her body. She shut off the water and pulled open the curtain. She grabbed her towel off the rack and quickly began to dry off. She wrapped the towel around herself and walked over to the door. She reached for the door just as it swung open.

She lost balance and began to fall backwards. Derek reached out and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back up. They stood like that for a moment, before Casey spoke.

"Derek I only have a towel on. Can you please let go?" She asked and he immediately let go, making Casey laugh. She smiled at him, before heading to her room, feeling slightly embarrassed.

* * *

Casey spent the next hour and a half getting ready. Typical girl thing. Make up, clothes, hair. But it would be worth it. He was a cool guy and he seemed really sweet.

Whatever happened to waiting to get out of high school before dating another guy.

Casey shook her head, ignoring what she had said in the beginning. Besides, maybe her and Cory could go somewhere with this. Maybe a serious relationship that will last after high school.

The doorbell rang and Casey quickly grabbed her purse and phone. She raced upstairs, quickly followed by Derek. She opened the basement door and rushed to the front door. They both stopped in sequence, catching their breath as the doorbell rang again. She pulled it open and frowned when she saw Grace, in an outfit to skanky for words.

Casey rolled her eyes as Grace walked into the house and right over to Derek. She shut the door and looked over to them.

"Is he actually going to buy you dinner first, or is this just a quick go?" Casey asked sarcastically, making Grace smirk.

"Of course were going to eat first. I couldn't just use him to get laid." She said, making Derek raise an eyebrow. Casey laughed at Derek's facial expression, just as there was a knock at the door.

"You two have fun." Casey said, pretty disappointed in Derek. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Cory. She turned around once more and smiled when she saw that the smirk from Grace's face disappeared. Grace had been foolishly throwing herself at Max whenever Casey walked by since they broke up. For some reason, Grace had it in for Casey and the brunette now believed that the blonde slut was going after Derek to get at Casey.

A plan that surely was not clearly thought through, since Derek is her step-brother. How would Grace going after Derek affect her?

* * *

Casey stood on her front porch, her arms wrapped around Cory as she leaned against the door, kissing him deeply. She pulled away from him for the third time, smiling a bit. He smiled back, flashing his perfect teeth.

"I should be getting inside. My parents will be home soon." Casey said to him and Cory leaned forward, resting an arm on the door.

"You said they would be gone all weekend." Cory pointed out, kissing her forehead lightly. Casey cursed herself for being so forward with him early on in the evening.

For a good portion of the first half of the evening, Casey was practically throwing herself at Cory, thinking about how Grace was probably in Derek's bed at that moment. The little blonde bimbo was trying to prove something to Casey and although Casey didn't know what it was, she wanted to prove a point. It was stupid, but she figured if she invited Cory to her room, it would be shoved in Grace's face, that it was pointless for her to try and rub Max and Derek, of all people, in her face.

It took Casey a bit of time before she realized what she was doing and entirely pathetic it was, mentally smacking herself. However, Cory seemed to be quite into the idea of seeing her room and she did not want him anywhere near it.

"They say that because my step-brother threw a party when they were gone before. Their way of setting a trap." Casey lied quickly and Cory looked at her for a second, but before he could say anything, she opened her door. "I should probably work on my speech for graduation anyway." She admitted truthfully, before giving a courtesy quick peck on the lips and slipped into the house.

Casey quickly shut the door and leaned against it, letting out a sigh. She turned off the front porch light since Nora and George would come in through the back. After kicking off her shoes, she pushed herself off the door and headed down towards the basement. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she noticed that Derek had his door open, his bed in view. It was clear that if anything had happened with Grace, it was far over by now.

She walked down the hall and into his room, knocking on the door, making him look up from his computer on the other side of the room. She gave him a small smile, walking into the room and collapsing in his bean bag chair.

"Make yourself comfortable." Derek said under his breath, looking back at his computer screen.

"I figured Grace would still be here, your door would be closed and I would have to put in headphones to ignore you." Casey admitted, completely relaxed in the chair with her eyes closed. Derek raised an eyebrow, looking in her direction and wondering what she was doing, just hanging out in his room.

"Not exactly my type." Derek muttered, exiting out of his computer programs.

"Other than blonde bimbo being completely your type, are you saying you actually didn't have sex with her?" Casey asked him, looking up from her chair shocked. He was facing the other direction now, digging around in his drawer for something.

"I never said that, did I?" He asked her back and she nodded her head a bit.

"So you did then." Casey said and Derek let out a small laugh.

"Do you honestly care either way?" He asked in response.

"No." She said quickly and he laughed a bit again. He then kicked himself away from his desk and his wheelie chair slid over towards Casey. He then handed her what looked like a self-rolled cigarette. "Why would you give me a cigarette?" She asked him and he let out yet another laugh.

"It's a joint." He said to her and she rolled her eyes.

"Just because I've smoked once does not mean I'm some burn out stoner." She rationalized and he nodded his head.

"I know that, but you decided to come hang out in my domain and the house is empty. I will be getting my keener step-sister stoned." Derek explained to her simply and she rolled her eyes once again. "So how was your evening with the caveman?" Derek asked as he lit the joint for her.

"Were calling him caveman now?" Casey asked him and he shrugged a bit. "Just another on the list of men who disappoint." She said answering him.

"Date that bad?" Derek asked as she passed the joint to him.

"Do you even care?" She asked him with a smirk and nodded his head, making her raise an eyebrow.

"No, not really." He admitted and she laughed. "It's better than sitting in silence." He explained to her and she nodded her head in agreement.

"When did we actually start getting along?" Casey asked.

"We you got the stick out of your ass." Derek said and Casey hit him.

"I'm serious. We just stopped bickering all the time and other than the occasional fights now and again, for pretty much all of senior year, we've gotten along." She pointed out to him and he shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"Perhaps were growing up. I personally think we have gotten used to each other." He said and she looked at him interested. "We still share retorts and comebacks at one another. It's just all in good fun now."

"You've matured and I got the stick out of ass." Casey tossed in and Derek couldn't help but laugh. "I really shouldn't have smoked. I have to work on my valedictorian speech." Casey admitted when the silence set in.

"Don't make me sit through some boring lecture." Derek said to her and Casey raised an eyebrow. "Don't be the keener who is going to talk all about school." He said to her and she looked at him confused.

"Of course I have to talk about school. It's graduation. I have to say something to the rest of the class that tells them not to be afraid of leaving high school." She said to him determinedly and he nodded his head.

"Do that, but relate to the rest of the student body. Talk about the things we will remember from school and what we learned outside of the classrooms." Derek suggested to her and Casey sat there for a moment, before slowly nodding her head.

"Wow, that's actually not a bad idea." She said and he rolled his eyes.

"Not all my ideas are bad." Derek said as Casey stood up to head to her room to write down ideas for her speech.

"Thanks, you really actually helped a lot." She said to him sincerely as she headed towards the door.

"You know the caveman is probably going to be telling everyone you two had sex." Derek pointed out and Casey gave a light shrug.

"I don't care what he has to say about me." Casey said waving it off.

"You care about the rumor it'll start though." He said and Casey scratched her head.

"Yeah, well then let him. We can see how much it bothers me. Graduation is in five days anyway." She pointed out before heading out of his room and into her own room.

* * *

"Somewhere between all the procrastination and eventually doing the homework... Somewhere between the classes... And the skipping classes... And the studying for tests... And the pretending to study for tests... And the downright just NOT studying for tests... the friendships... and the talks to each other complaining about crushes … Somewhere between all of the changing and growing of the last four years... We forgot... We forgot what school is all about and for once I am not talking about just your education."

Casey could hear Derek, as well as a couple other students cheer and clap to the last sentence. She smiled and continued.

"We forgot that pretending to be happy doesn't make you happy... I forgot that you can't just forget the past in fear of the future and that being smart doesn't mean you know everything... We forgot what it meant to cry...We learned that we can love... We forgot that we can't control falling in love..."

Casey noticed Sam glance over to Emily, his now ex-girlfriend, especially after they learned the baby was indeed Noel's child.

"And that you can't make yourself fall in love... We learned that it's okay to mess up... And it's okay to ask for help... And it's okay to feel like crap... We learned it's okay to complain and whine to all your friends for a whole day... We learned that sometimes the things you want most you just can't have."

Casey continued to scan the crowd, finding Derek in the back, listening intently to what she was saying.

"We learned that the greatest thing about school isn't the parties or the drinking or the hook-ups, the rumors and the gossip... We learned just being with friends is one of the most important things. I just learned that my friends... Both old and new... Are very important in my life. AND... without them, I wouldn't be who I am today."

Casey meant every word of the part, too. Despite not being able to stand Emily anymore, Casey had to admit that they played a significant role in each other's life for a long time.

"As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. We learn that sometimes the things we want to forget are the things which we most need to talk about … In the future, you will have your heart broken probably more than once and it still gets harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken . You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and eventually we will all lose someone we love. We may be sent to school to learn, but it's the social experience we remember. These are the best days of our lives and if we can handle everything it has thrown at us so far, we can handle whatever comes next."

Casey finished her speech and the graduates and audience both cheered loudly. She walked back through the seats, returning to her own and waiting for the rest of the ceremony. A few more people spoke before they began calling out the students. Grace was one of the first few to walk across the stage, wearing extremely high heels. She wasn't attending Queens like Casey, but she was attending a school near there and Casey didn't like that very much.

Trevor was called shortly after her. He had gotten an early acceptance to Queens and had known he was going there well before Casey and Derek knew. Casey had been so busy applying to colleges that she didn't send in any early applications.

Noel was called shortly later followed by Emily, who looked much more pregnant than before. The chances of her seeing them again anytime after the summer would be slim.

Casey was in the line walking up to the when Rachel walked across the stage, Casey cheering from the line. Rachel had managed to get late acceptance into Queens, having applied to a lot of school where she used to live. After becoming good friends with Casey, she applied to Queens as well.

Casey walked across the stage, sure that she was able to hear her family cheering in the crowd of people. Shortly after her was Max, who had a football scholarship to a school in the states. There had been a period of time where he was going to go to Queens, not wanting to be away from Casey. That was old news now.

Ralph was called, followed by Sam, who were both following Derek and Casey off to Queens. Casey had no idea when she applied to the school that the three of them would be following her there. Finally, last but by no means least, Derek was called, the student body erupting into cheer.

He was, after all, a legend.

* * *

Casey and Derek sat in a restaurant with their family, all just finished eating dinner. Derek and Casey were both still wearing their gowns, both unzipped, while Derek was wearing his cap tilted to the side and Marti was wearing Casey's cap. The dinner table was full with just the seven people in their family, but Casey's dad Dennis and his girlfriend had come, as well as Derek's mom, Abby.

"I must say that I am glad that my return to Canada was because my son graduated and not to the news that he didn't graduate." Abby said, wrapping an arm around Derek and hugging him supportively. Derek rolled his eyes and sarcastically mentioned how he was glad everyone had so much faith in him.

"Why does everyone assume the worst of me?" Derek asked when George said he prepared himself every day for the last month to receive the news that Derek would not be graduating on time.

"It saves time." Casey said to him and he narrowed his eyes at her, while she just smiled back at him.

"Well I'm sure the two graduates are eager to meet up with their friends." When Dennis said this, both Derek and Casey's faces lit up upon the idea of being able to leave. The group all returned to the McDonald-Venturi home, where Sam picked up Derek and Casey, taking off for the night. The pulled up slowly towards Rachel's house, their headlights off.

"Why are we sneaking up to her house?" Sam turned around to ask Casey, who was telling she got a text message from Rachel saying house is on lock down, be sneaky. Sam rolled his eyes, turning back forward and pressing hard on the rest of his break. Rachel was scaling down from her window with a bunch of blankets tied together.

Apparently it doesn't just happen in movies.

Once she landed on the ground, she quickly made her way through the yard. It was always helpful that she wore such a dark wardrobe. She climbed in the back seat with Casey, receiving a round of applause from the other three as she got in the car.

"Rebecca turned up for my graduation, which was thoughtful I guess, but it ruined the night." Rachel said with a shrug, putting on her seatbelt as Sam took off down the road.

The graduation party was packed, loud and crazy. Derek and Sam had gone off from Casey and Rachel as soon as they parked the car. Well not as soon as they parked the car, because they did park a few blocks away. Sam wasn't willing to risk his car getting abandoned in the front of a loud party that could get busted by the police. They could run and hope fences, but the car under his name would still be out front.

They arrived at the party at eight, found Trevor by nine and then proceeded to spend the next three to four hours walking around, sitting down and standing, doing all of those while drinking. After those few hours, Casey glanced around the party, looking at each person that had just graduated.

"I've come to realize something." Casey said, making Trevor and Rachel both look at her. Casey then pointed around at a few people, Trevor and Rachel following her finger. "I am not going to miss a single person here." Casey said with a laugh and the other two started laughing.

"Why are we even here?" Rachel asked and Trevor held up his drink, before taking a drink.

"We here to celebrate the fact that high school is over and we never have to see these people again." Casey said happily. "Plus Sam was driving and its free alcohol." She added in quickly at the end.

"Except the ones who are going to Queens." Rachel pointed out and Trevor nodded his head.

"Well then were drinking away the fact that the rest of life is probably just like high school." Casey said and the other two laughed before finishing their drinks and going to get more. As they walked through the party now that it was almost one, it began to happen. Casey was slowly bombarded with people talking of how much they were going to miss each other, people coming up to her and saying the same.

Emily tried to have an awkward conversation with Casey, who just stared at her, wondering why she wouldn't go away. It turns out Emily was there to drag Noel home, the idea of being a father just after high school was not something he wanted to deal with so he was pretty trashed.

Casey was then surrounding by crying, drunk cheerleaders, talking to her about how great she is, despite her interesting taste in clothes and friends. Rachel then shooed them all away, her face a bit red because they annoyed her and Trevor laughed at the two of them.

"Hey Case." Max said when he decided to come talk to her.

"Max." Casey said surprised that he just walked up to her.

"Trevor, Rachel. Doing good?" He asked them and they both nodded their heads, smiles pasted to their faces. "Well I brought graduation shots to celebrate." He said, holding up a tray with four shots. By how red his face was, Casey was sure that he was walking around and drinking graduation shots with all the people he knew from school.

Which was also probably everyone.

They all did their shot and then Max spoke again. "I have to thank you Casey. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten into Queens." He said, before walking away, presumably to refill his tray with more shots.

"You got him into Queens?" Rachel asked Casey who scrunched up her nose.

"I convinced him to apply and come on, anyone who dates me always does better in school." Casey said and both Rachel and Trevor admitted that their GPA went up a bit just hanging out with Casey.

"My mom thought the schools up here must be better." Rachel said with a laughed and was then interrupted by Casey abruptly stepping away from the two of them. For the first time the entire night, she seen Cory and she was suddenly drunk and eager to ask him why he did end up telling all his friends he hooked up with her. She worried about it after he left that night so she wasn't entirely let down when she heard that he had said something to his friends.

"What are you doing?" Casey could hear Trevor ask as she quickly pushed passed the two of them.

"What have you been saying, Cory?" Casey asked immediately upon walking up to him, interrupting his conversation with his friends. He looked over to Casey and then back to his friends before laughing.

"See what I said, she can't just leave it alone. Just can't stay away." He said laughing with his friends and Casey crossed her arms. Trevor and Rachel were suddenly at her side, trying to pull her away from him.

"Can't stay away? I haven't talked to you in weeks!" She pointed out to him shocked and he shook his head.

"I will continue to ignore your calls and texts, so just stop trying." He said to her and when he opened her mouth to speak, he spoke again. "Look, I just wanted to see what all the hype was about and I just don't get it. The sex wasn't even good." He said, before going back to laughing with his friends. They moved a bit away from Casey, who was fuming.

"He is just an ass and we won't have to see him again." Rachel pointed out to Casey, but that wasn't good enough for her.

"We didn't even have sex you were so unappealing!" Casey yelled at him not moving from her spot. Several people turned to look at her, including Cory and his friends. He looked at his friends, rolling his eyes, before he started to march over to Casey. However, before he even made it half way over to Casey, he appeared to have walked right into someone's fist, falling straight back to the ground.

It happened so fast it took Casey a moment to realize that Derek had been the one who punched Cory, Sam and Ralph standing next to him laughing.

"Dude, you never mess with a guy's sister." Sam said to Cory with a laugh as he got back up. Although, before anyone could happen, the room suddenly filled with panic. Someone shouted 'Cops' before red and blue lights appeared in front of the house.

"That would be the cue to split." Rachel said, grabbing Casey's hand and following Trevor out the back door. The three of them raced up to the fence, running up to it and jumping over like several other teenagers were doing. People were yelling back it the house and Casey could hear cops yelling at everyone to stop before they make it any worse as she hit the ground on the other side of the fence.

"Not time to fall, let's go!" Derek said, pulling Casey up from the ground so she could join the others in running. The yelling slowly began to fade as they ran through the field that led to the other side of the neighborhood where the car was parked.

"I'm going to head this way. It'll be faster if I walk home from here." Rachel said, pointing to the neighborhood on the other side of the field where she would find her house.

"Us too. Later guys." Casey said, dragging Derek in the same general direction that Rachel was heading. The three of them headed in the same direction for a bit before they spilt off, Rachel heading towards her house and Derek and Casey heading to their house. "I think I'm drunk." Casey said after a long period of time of trying to focus on walking.

"I'm not that drunk." Derek said before he stumbled a bit. "I just can't walk… or see very well." He added after a moment. "Man, that was a great party." He finished with and Casey laughed.

"Who would've thought that by the end of high school we would actually be getting along." Casey pointed out to him and he laughed. "You didn't even want to admit our parents got married." She added and he nodded his head.

"I was in denial that it would last. Besides, I'm the one that got it around school that we were step-siblings." He reminded her and she nodded her head.

"Remember that party you threw that got totally out of control." Casey said to him and he laughed heartily at that memory.

"I remember you taking partial blame for it because I got all sentimental in the bathroom." He said still laughing.

"And you ditched me on cleaning up the mess." She said to him with a smirk because she knew what was coming next.

"As I recall, all the garbage from the party found its way to my bedroom." He said, glancing over at her

"You sure sleep deeply." Casey said with a smile as they approached their house. They walked into the house, trying to be quiet, but not sneaking in since their parents knew they would be out late.

"You know that's why we can't get along. We both refuse to admit we are wrong or defeat in any way." Derek began explaining and Casey nodded her head as they opened the door and walked into the basement.

"We're both too headstrong." Casey said and Derek nodded his head, stumbling a bit on the stairs. "Please don't fall down the stairs. Graduation night ends in horror." She said, saying the first part seriously and the second sentence with a laugh.

"Well we both made it home in one piece. I say the night was a success." He said as he opened his bedroom door, before his face completely dropped. He then proceeded to quickly shut the door, trying to be quiet.

"What?" Casey asked as she walked into her room.

"I may have said I would be staying at Sam's and promised my room to your dad and his girlfriend." He said to her as he appeared in her doorway with a smile.

"You are so thoughtfully thoughtless." Casey said, turning around to face him as he walked in her room.

"That makes no sense, but I'm assuming I can crash on that lovely couch of yours." He said to her as her tapped the door shut with his foot.

"You hate my couch." Casey pointed out to him and he shrugged a bit.

"I like it when my bed is occupied." He added and she rolled her eyes.

"Well can you leave so I can change?" She asked him and he looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head.

"Nope, can't do it." He said, sitting down on the couch.

"Derek!" She snapped at him and he laughed.

"That never gets old." He said and she crossed her arms.

"Why do always have to be such an ass?" She asked him, more or less rhetorically. He quickly got up from the couch and walked over to her, standing right next to her.

"Would it make you uncomfortable to change in the same room as me?" He asked her and she scrunched up her nose at him. " We're supposed to be siblings, right." He pointed out to her and she laughed dryly.

"I haven't known you since birth. You are by no means my sibling." Casey said to him plain and clear because she wanted him to leave the room so she could change. Plus she could turn on some other light other that her pink and white lights strung along her walls. However, upon hearing what she said, something sparked inside of Derek.

Without so much as a warning, Derek tilted Casey's face just a bit and immediately dove, capturing her lips. She was completely shocked, but she kissed back right away, even as he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer. She was shocked and tense, but slowly it began to fade away before she fully put herself into the kiss.

Casey dropped the clothes she had planned on changing into originally. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he knocked her over onto the bed, managing to catch his drunken self so he didn't collapse on top of her. They hardly broke the kiss and Derek knew that he was terrified that if they stopped kissing for too long, Casey would change her mind.

He wanted this so bad, driving him crazy for so long. They both began to lose clothes as Derek realized that it was really going to actually happen, something he thought would never happen. Perhaps he would be able to think more clearly when it came to her, but right now he couldn't think at all.

* * *

Casey woke the next morning, her eyes opening quickly, before shutting them even faster. So much had happened to fast that she was having a hard time processing anything. Memories from last night came flooding in, as well as the morning light, a sudden headache pounding her head and her bare back against someone's chest, their arm around her waist.

Derek.

Casey desperately wished to go to sleep and wake up to a different morning. All of the events of the previous evening came flooding back into her, reminding her of how much she had wanted him so suddenly. She had wondered for a moment where it had suddenly come from before she could no longer handle herself. She caved to him, they caved to hormones.

Apparently Derek was waking up to the same realization that Casey had. He quickly, yet smoothly pulled his arm away from Casey because her eyes were still closed. Choosing to avoid the awkward situation right now, Casey chose to pretend to be asleep. It seemed to have worked because he quickly got dressed and left the room.

Casey opened her eyes as soon as her door shut. She let out the breath that she didn't even notice that she had been holding. How could they possibly have let this happen? This was going to make this so completely awkward. Unless they never spoke about it again. Derek liked to ignore things and she would not mind never mentioning it again.

With that in mind, Casey quickly climbed out of bed. She then proceeded to be begin dressing herself in her pajamas that were just lying in a half folded pile on the floor by her bed. Once she was dressed, she ran her fingers through her hair and then under her eyes since she never took her make up off from last night.

Casey headed out of her room and up the stairs without a single glance towards Derek's room. It was far too soon to be seeing him and it didn't help that they lived in the same house. She opened the basement door and walked into the kitchen, frozen in place when she realized it was a packed family breakfast. A bunch of breakfast foods were set out on the island and everyone was at the table already eating.

"Grab a plate and join us." Nora said to Casey who groaned tiredly and grabbed a small plates of eggs and a cup of coffee. She then walked over to the only open seat, placed right across from Derek. Perfect. Derek looked even less thrilled than Casey.

"You are so strange." Edwin said to Marti and Abby jumped in and starting telling him not to call his little sister names and whatnot.

"Casey do you think I'm strange?" Marti asked, turning to look at Casey.

"Not nearly as strange as me." Derek said before Casey could say anything. Both Marti can Casey looked at him, Casey very stone-faced and still.

"Completely strange." Casey said breathlessly after a long moment, still looking at Derek. She finally turned and looked at Marti. "But come on, you're awesome. I don't know a single ten year old who is better than you." Casey added with a smile, making Marti and Abby smile and Edwin roll his eyes.


	4. Sometimes

**A/n:** Sorry for the long wait. Been crazy busy. Song for this chapter is Sometimes, by Skillet. I think that is about it. I own nothing and I do mention three other TV shows in this chapter, but I don't own those either. Although the rights to any of the shows would be a nice late Christmas gift...

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Sometimes I don't mind how hateful that I can be_

_Sometimes I don't try to make you happy_

_I don't know why I do the things I do to you but_

_Sometimes I don't wanna be better_

_Sometimes I can't be put back together_

_Sometimes I find it hard to believe_

_There's someone else who could be_

_Just as messed up as me_

_Fall 2009_

_The lips touching her body over and over drove her crazy, making her never want to leave her bed. She wanted to keep him here forever with her and never have to face another person in the world again. She was sobering up now, much less drunk then their first time around and she should know better by now, but the more she sobered up, the more she wanted to just stay._

_Derek abruptly entered her for the second time that early morning, the sun now peeking through the window. Casey let out a yell, that she held back and turned into a moan as she dug her hands into her bed…_

Casey's eyes shot open, staring straight up at the bed above her. Her breathing was heavy and she had to place her hands on her chest to help calm herself down before she woke her roommate with her heavy breathing.

"Do you have a guy down there?" Came a female voice above Casey, who winced.

"Bad dream." She muttered tiredly as the female voice muttered 'good' and hopped down from her bed.

"That would have been really awkward to wake up to." She said with a laugh and Casey narrowed her eyes at her.

"Well one of us would know, wouldn't we Ashley?" Casey asked in a rhetorical manner making the other girl laugh.

"I miss the first few weeks of school when you were a morning person." Ashley pointed out and Casey nodded, wanting to curl back up in bed, but not wanting anymore dreams. She pushed herself out of bed, heading over to her closet. "Don't forget about Trevor and Rachel's birthday party tonight." Ashley reminded as Casey grabbed her clothes for dance. Not like either of them could forget since it was written down everywhere possible in their room. With everyone's busy schedules they decided it would just be best to celebrate it all at once in the middle of November.

Besides, Casey was usually the one who had to remind Ashley of things. The only reason that Ashley has remembered this is before it is a party and she knows when her parties are without a reminder.

Ashley had fit in pretty well with Casey's friends, although she wasn't exactly what Trevor and Rachel had hoped for, but much better than Rachel's roommate. She hates her roommate, while Ashley is not that bad at all. She is perky, happy and gets by on almost no sleep most of the time, but, as Casey found out the second week at school, when she gets her period she is moody, snappy and sleeps a lot. She has thick blonde hair and deep blue eyes.

She is from California, where she lives with her mom and brother. Her father lives just outside of London, but in England, with his wife and two step-daughters. Ashley says she visits every summer and gets along with both girls very well.

"I have practice all day, but I should be on time." Casey said, glancing at her calendar. She had joined the dance club her first week at school. After joining them, she signed up for tryouts for the competitive dance team. They only selected fifteen students and she managed to be one of those lucky students. Of course, this made her schedule jammed pack along with classes, studying and squeezing in time for friends.

Although, busy is exactly what she had been hoping for, especially knowing that Derek was somewhere on the same campus. After graduation night, Derek and Casey made themselves very scarce around the house. Casey knew she was avoiding him and she was sure he was avoiding her because any run in they had was terribly awkward.

Apparently they both had the same idea at school, to keep busy and away from one another. Casey had only seen Derek once since they arrived here in late August and that was when she was purchasing books. Rachel had been with her in the bookstore, running into him in the psychology aisle. Rachel didn't find it nearly as awkward as Casey and Derek did, until it was over with, then she had a lot of questions.

Although not telling anyone had been the plan, Rachel had changed that by continuously asking Casey what happened. She wanted to know why there was a group of friends excited to go off to college and now it was just the two of them and Trevor. Casey finally caved and told her about graduation night.

"You and Derek!" She had said shocked, which had made Casey cover her face, definitely avoiding too many details. She didn't want anyone to know she slept with Derek, her step-brother, especially when she was having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that she did.

"If you ever mention this again, I will kill you." Casey said very seriously, but Rachel had only laughed. "Derek is the enemy and I am now holding your personally responsible for making sure it doesn't happen again." She said just as firmly, which made Rachel stop laughing.

"Come on, sleeping with the enemy is so hot." Rachel said matter-of-factly, a new tone of hers since college started. Maybe it was from spending so much time with Casey, at least that is what Trevor thought. "Keep your friend close and your enemies closer." Rachel said with a wink and Casey glared, smacking the girls arm.

"Not funny." Casey snapped and Rachel laughed as she rubbed her arm, shaking a bit as she tried to suppress her laughter enough to talk.

"You bitch, that hurt." She complained, still laughing. "Whatever, I'll help you stay away from him." She had finally agreed and Casey was finally settled with the idea.

Trevor wouldn't go out of his way to hang out with Derek if he didn't have to and now Rachel knew better. Avoiding Derek had been so easy the past couple months. She hadn't even seen Ralph either, or Kendra for that matter. She was sure the fact that Sam had furloughed college for a semester had helped her avoid Derek as well.

It had happened so suddenly. About a week after graduation, Sam stopped by the house to say goodbye to the McDonald-Venturi's as he was heading off to Europe. His older sister, Katie, was going and he never showed any interest in going. Then he was gone, saying he should be back by Christmas.

Casey and Derek both assumed that he was leaving as a rash decision after learning Noel and Emily were now getting married. He needed to get away, as they were both sure, but he had been so short with the goodbye. Derek and Casey both were hardly able to get a word in before he was getting in the car with his family and heading to the airport.

"Are you going down to the gym with me today?" Ashley asked, dressed to go workout.

"I have another couple hours before practice, so yeah, let's go." Casey said, opening the door to their room, Ashley shutting the light off on her way out. The gym was relatively close to their dorms, which was nice since it was getting to be very cold out and they always had a bag to carry with them. With Casey and both her dance teams, Ashley had cheerleading and volleyball that she was always juggling with school and partying.

The girl definitely loved to party and with all the activities she is in, it is a good thing she has high energy with very little sleep.

"I see these two guys on my way to work out all the time. I thought about taking up smoking just so I have an excuse to go up to them." Ashley said as they walked towards the gym. Outside smoking were two guys, one Casey didn't know and one Casey knew far too well.

"A beautiful record broken." Casey muttered to herself when she realized it was Derek. He noticed her about the same time Ashley processed what Casey had said.

"You know them?" Ashley said, looking over to them to see them looking at them, making her wave at them. "Let's go say hi."

"Let's not." Casey complained as Ashley began to drag her over.

"It'll be fun." She said and Casey muttered the opposite as they approached the two guys, Ashley elbowing Casey to say something, making Casey roll her eyes.

"Hey Derek, have you met my roommate Ashley?" Casey said with a fake smile, making the other guy laugh a bit. "Ashley, this is my step-brother, Derek. Happy?" Casey asked Ashley, who sent her a dirty look, making Casey smile with triumph. She may be taking her bitterness out on Ashley, but she wasn't expecting Ashley to find any interest in Derek.

"I didn't know you had a step-brother." Ashley pointed out.

"To be fair, I didn't even bother to know if Derek had parents." The guy next to Derek said, making Derek look over at him.

"I fill you in later on my family." Derek said to him, before turning to the girls. "Roommate Mike, this is step-sister Casey." Derek introduced, Casey sensing bitterness in his tone that she wasn't sure if the others picked up on. It got quiet for a long moment and Casey could practically hear Ashley mentally begging her to say something.

"How are Ralph and Kendra?" Casey asked Derek, who kind of shrugged.

"Kendra actually just broke up with him. He's been drinking a lot more." Derek mentioned and Casey was surprised to hear the two of them broke up. "How about Trevor and Rachel?" Derek asked, obviously giving out the same effort.

"Now that they are together, they are sickeningly adorable. I'm hoping it is just a phase that will pass and they can stop being so cute all the time because it does get annoying." Casey pointed out to him, making the guys chuckle a bit.

"So what do you guys do with your time outside of class?" Ashley asked, finding a safe place to make her way into the conversation, which Casey was entirely thankful for.

"Hockey mostly, parties and then studying if I get the chance." Mike said and Casey laughed, sounding like a roommate that was perfect for Derek.

"Hockey does take up a lot of time, however I also work part time, so if I want to pass, I'm always studying." Derek said and Casey looked impressed to hear that partying wasn't number two after hockey.

"Well we have to get going, but our friends' birthday party is tonight. Derek, you apparently know Trevor and Rachel." Ashley said and Casey could feel herself tense up again after a not completely horrible conversation.

"Everyone is so busy we are having their parties on one night." Casey forced out and Michael agreed immediately, getting information from Ashley about it.

"Well I can't miss it now that I know about it." Derek said, more to Casey since the other two were exchanging information.

"That had been the plan." Casey said back before Ashley started saying bye, grabbing Casey's arm and walking away.

"You two are in the same grade?" Ashley asked and Casey nodded. "When did you parents get married?" Ashley then asked and Casey sighed as she numbly started to answer all of Ashley questions. She found Derek attractive and interesting so Casey's family life was suddenly much more interesting. Under other circumstances, she wouldn't mind talking about her family, but this reminded her too much of Emily.

Hopefully Derek wasn't interested in Ashley, which Casey completely doubted because he was interested in any girl, especially if they are a cheerleader.

* * *

Casey rushed back to her room, jamming her key in the door and swinging the door open. Ashley was sitting on her bed, dressed and ready to go, watching one of her shows.

"You are so late." Ashley pointed out, not looking away from the TV.

"The good news is I showered at the gym, so I'll be ready as soon as I change." Casey said, tossing her dance bag down by her closet and grabbing the outfit she had laid out that morning so she wouldn't be doing it now. She quickly changed, tossed her hair up and put on a light amount of make-up, before dragging Ashley away from her show.

The two of them quickly rushed into the crowded bar once they got there, making their way to the back where the others would be. It had taken them a while to finally get to the back, but once they did, they found the others right away.

"Took you long enough." Rachel said when the two of them showed up, Ashley saying hi and then going off to talk to some people she knew. "You will never guess who ended up being here tonight." Rachel said in a warning way, but Casey just waved it off.

"I know. Ashley conned me into talking to him, although she doesn't know she tricked me. She invited him and his roommate." Casey said, glancing around the bar to see if she could see them.

"They went out for a cigarette with Trevor."

"I can see his roommate, Mike." Casey pointed him out as the guy talking to Ashley and a couple other girls.

"So how does it work having Rachel's nineteenth birthday party before she can legally drink?" Derek asked Trevor as they sat by the bar, waiting for the shots they were to do together now that Trevor could drink, legally.

"None of the bars by the school card, none of the good ones anyway." Trevor said and Derek nodded, never having that problem because he hadn't gone to the bars around here yet. Any parties he went to were at the school. "So Casey invited you?" Trevor asked and Derek glanced at him and looked at him for a long moment.

"Is that weird?" Derek asked, not sure of Trevor had a reason to ask that.

"I'd have to say I spend a decent amount of time with Casey and I would have to say after we graduated you were not mentioned. You weren't around and I actually thought you might have gone to Europe with Sam." Trevor admitted and Derek nodded.

"I should have."

"I don't need to know details, but I do remember you having feelings for Casey. Despite having not talked to her, I'm sure the fact that you two being step-siblings is four hours behind us has crossed your mind."

"I really miss her actually." Derek admitted, but he did do his shot before he admitted it.

"Have you taken time to stop and tell her that?" Trevor asked and Derek rolled his eyes before looking at Trevor dumbfounded.

"You are so right!" Derek said in a loud sarcastic manner, making Trevor chuckle a bit.

"I did get into college." He pointed out, but then he shrugged. "Then again, so did you." Trevor said and Derek laughed sarcastically. "I'm surprised we don't see each other more. Our rooms are on the same floor in the same house and this is the first I've seen you all year." Trevor pointed out and Derek nodded.

"I'm only in the dorm if I have to be. Most of my time is spent at the ice rink, the gym or the library." Derek pointed out to him and Trevor nodded.

"Looks like someone grew up." Trevor pointed out after the two of them took their second shot, walking away from the bar with beers in their hands. Derek rolled his eyes and glanced around the room to see if he recognized any of the students that attended. As he glanced around the room he noticed a familiar looking girl. It took a moment, but Derek eventually figured it out.

"Casey's not going to be happy." Derek said as he began to walk through the party. Trevor watched him walk over to a blonde before he, too, recognized her and walked over to Derek. "Fancy seeing you here, Grace." Derek said, stopping her from talking to some guy. She excused herself before turning around and giving Derek and Trevor a wide smile.

"Don't pretend you didn't miss me." She said to him and he rolled his eyes, while Trevor stood behind him, waiting to see what was going on.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked and she smiled, glancing around the room.

"My brother invited me." She said, nodding her head towards a group of Derek's hockey teammates. "I doubt you want to meet him right now, since the two of us have a bit of history from high school."

"I think it would be best if you just got lost." Derek said, nodding his head towards the exit.

"Not just yet. I have plans to meet up with Ralph in an hour, so this party is just a time killer." Grace said before she opened her arms as if expecting a hug from one of the guys. Trevor eyed her for a moment, before he just shook his head and walked away, Derek following him with the same look of distaste, while Grace continued to smile.

"She's a bitch." Trevor spat as they walked over to Rachel and Casey.

"That is true. She's a bitch and despite how much Casey pretends it's not true, she hates her." Derek pointed out as they walked up to the two girls. "It could be fun to tell Casey and see what would happen." Derek thought out loud for a moment before the girls finished walking up to them. Trevor eyed Derek carefully and the latter decided that maybe for the next hour he would help Trevor keep Casey and Rachel from knowing that Grace had shown up.

"Sally should be here two days after Christmas." Casey said, still holding up the phone that she had just gotten off of a moment ago.

"So we go home for Christmas and see our families, before we come back here and celebrate the New Year away from home." Rachel said with a firm nod of the head at the end.

"Sally's coming here?" Derek asked which made the other three look at him.

"She is going to stay with Casey and Ashley for Christmas break. Apparently all the girls that go here are 'stuck up bitches'." Trevor said as if it was a quote, which apparently it had been.

"They are and although Ashley is pretty cool, that's because there isn't much to choose from." Rachel pointed out and Casey laughed.

"She doesn't like her roommate." Casey said and Rachel laughed sarcastically.

"The women is a walking red light district. I'm just happy the guys make themselves scarce before I wake up." Rachel explained, before going on to explain the wonders of noise cancelling headphones.

* * *

Not much had changed back home, but everyone was definitely growing up. Edwin and Lizzie were now freshman and while Edwin was doing fine with school, Lizzie wasn't adjusting to high school as smoothly. It had helped a bit to have Casey home for a few days. Marti had started taking gymnastics and although Derek was hoping she would play hockey, he was interested in her gymnastics just the same. Noah had turned one just after they left for school and he was starting to become a handful.

Two days after Christmas, Derek, Casey, Rachel and Trevor piled back into Trevor's car and drove the four hour ride back to school. Derek and Casey had sat in the backseat, silent for majority of the ride. Casey spent most of the ride with her headphones in, either reading a book or with her pillow against the window trying to sleep.

It felt weird to be home for a full five days after having been away at school since September. It started to feel like nothing changed, but that was obviously not true. When they got back to school, Sally had been sitting outside Casey's room with all of her stuff for break. She had her headphones in and it looked like she was sleeping, her head on her pillow which was on top of her suitcase. She had sunglasses on, her blonde hair in her face and her music player hanging limply in her hand.

Rachel smiled as she and Casey walked onto their floor. Casey and Ashley's room was on the end so Sally was pretty much completely out of the way of the few other students that were there over break.

"Security!" Rachel yelled out and Sally jerked awake from her sleep, pushing her sunglasses off her face and looking up

"It's about time you got back. I was hoping your roommate would be here to let me in." Sally complained, but her voice sounding excited, as she climbed off the floor, hugging both of the girls.

"She'll be back New Year's Eve." Casey explained as she unlocked her door, propping it open for Sally to bring her stuff in. Rachel left to go bring her stuff to her room and give everyone a chance to breathe. "When do you go back?" Casey asked as they got settled in the room, staying in their comfortable traveling clothes since they were just having a dorm room girls night.

"My flight leaves on the fifth." Sally said before the two of them began to catch up.

* * *

Casey sat in her room, angrily staring at her computer waiting for a page to load. With the snow storm and all the other students trying to use the internet, it was running slower than usual. Ashley was in her bed, watching one of her shows, and refusing to get out of bed. They were all supposed to be going out tonight because the weather wasn't supposed to get this bad.

First thing on this cold January morning, Ashley got her period so she absolutely refused to do anything but lay in bed and watch all of her shows. Sally insisted that they still go out, offering to rally up the girls, who would get the guys. Casey's job was to spend the day getting Ashley in a better mood, which proved impossible.

Throughout the day, the snow storm worsened to the point where Casey cannot even see out of the dorm window. She heard from Sally last that she was hunting down Derek and Ralph. Rachel had left her room to go pick up Trevor two hours ago and his room is not that far from them. Casey, after not hearing from anyone for two hours, finally just put sweats back on and hopped into her bed.

An hour later, Ashley and Casey had stopped at the vending machine for candy, made popcorn in their room and ignored the raging snowstorm outside. On the way back from the vending machine, Casey popped by Rachel's room, to find that neither Rachel or Sally were there.

"Do you suppose that they are trapped from the storm?" Ashley suggested as they walked back towards their room.

"Why haven't I heard from anyone though?" Casey threw in and Ashley shrugged.

"Well this blizzard has just shown me it is about times I got you into one of my shows." Ashley said, not accepting no for an answer. "My mom bought me the first two seasons of _Gossip Girl_ for Christmas. It's the show we would watch together before I left for school. I'm trying to keep up with the third season on line." Ashley explained and Casey looked interested.

"Sounds interesting, I guess." Casey said, not really sure what the show was about.

"If not, my step-sisters sent me two seasons of their favorite show _Skins_. I haven't started watching it yet, but the card they sent along with it told me I would love it." Ashley elaborated, to which Casey merely shrugged.

"Whichever one-" Casey was in the middle of speaking when she stopped dead.

"Hey it's Derek." Ashley said, which it indeed was, her voice making him look up. He had been leaning against the wall across from their dorm, staring down at the ground when Casey first noticed him.

"I knew you two couldn't have gotten very far." Derek said and both girls looked at him with interest as Ashley unlocked the door to their room. The three of them walked in, Casey flipping on the lights. "They've locked down all the halls. No one is allowed to leave due to the weather." Derek explained to them once they were all in the room.

"So Sally and Rachel?" Casey asked and Derek nodded.

"I talked to Sally when I first was on my way here. She was picking up Ralph when they told her they couldn't leave. Rachel and Trevor are stuck there as well." Derek explained, before taking the drink Ashley offered him and pull his back pack off of his back.

"So we are all stuck here?" Ashley asked him, although she had not intended on leaving.

"The night guard said we might be snowed in tomorrow, which doesn't matter since the prince is stuck on the side of the road about three blocks down." Derek said, finally gesturing to his wet attire. "However, I do have a bottle in my bag in exchange for a place to stay and a change of clothes if you know a guy nearby." Derek offered, mostly to Casey, the one he needed to convince. She eyed him for a second and Ashley watched the two of them curiously.

"I have a spare key to Rachel's room. She has spare clothes for Trevor." Casey said, holding up her key ring. "You can help Ashley decide on which television series she is going to drag us into." Casey said as she left the room once again. Derek looked over to Ashley, who was digging through her belongings.

"What is the first choice?" Derek asked her and she looked at the two of them.

"_Gossip Girl_." Ashley stated and Derek narrowed his eyes a bit, asking what it was about. "It's about, well, a bunch of friends, in which Serena, who slept with Dan, who was sleeping with Vanessa, who slept with Chuck, who slept with Blair, who slept with Nate who slept with Serena." Ashley said with a smile to herself, while Derek looked completely uninterested.

"I pick the other one." Derek said, not even caring to know what it is called.

"Well what shows do you watch?" Ashley asked him, offended that he turned away her show.

"Mostly don't have time. Although, my roommate did get me into an American TV series, '_Sons of Anarchy'_." Derek explained and Ashley smiled a bit upon hearing that, possibly having heard of the show. Maybe she just liked the idea that it was an American show.

"Well download a couple episodes on my laptop. You watch a few episodes from _both_ of my shows and Casey and I will both watch a few episodes of your show." Ashley said to compromise and Derek looked at her interested.

"My show is pretty violent and Casey hates violence." Derek said and Ashley simply shrugged.

"We are kind of stuck here so what choice does she really have?" Ashley asked as she climbed up into her bed with a mixed drink and a bag of popcorn. "Make yourself a bag of popcorn, I don't like sharing. Speaking of, you can sit on Casey's bed to watch the shows, because I don't want to share my bed either." She pointed out to him and he raised an eyebrow, but she merely smiled.

Six hours later, the three of them had watched a few episodes of _Skins_. Ashley then said she was tired and had put on _Gossip Girl_ for them to watch, saying they could watch Derek's show while they were snowed in tomorrow. Derek had asked the night guard three hours ago what the weather looked like and it wasn't optimistic, while Ashley fell asleep two hours ago.

"So let me get this straight." Derek said during the third episode. "This show is about a bunch of rich teenagers in New York and all of their drama?" Derek asked Casey, who was watching the show with complete interest.

"Yes and the despite the fact that I hate them, I can't stop watching the show." Casey said and Derek laughed.

"I think you will like my show. Once you get passed everything that will bother you about the show." Derek explained to Casey who laughed a bit, sipping on her drink.

"Well that is generally how everything goes between us. I liked your band after I made it better and we get along now that I have gotten over all the stuff you do that annoys me." Casey reasoned with to him and he laughed dryly while she smiled.

"Not nearly as annoying as the stuff that you do." Derek pointed out and Casey looked at him offended.

"I am nowhere near as annoying as you. You always have to get what you want." She pointed out to him and he laughed.

"There is nothing wrong with that, besides, you are the same way." Derek retorted with and Casey pursed her lips.

"You were a lot more annoying when we first moved in." Casey concluded, while Derek smiled a bit.

"That was a long time ago." He reminded her and she nodded her head. "I've missed this, the witty banter, although it definitely was not our finest." Derek pointed out quickly, not letting silence set in. Casey had been still half watching the show up until this point, finally looking over to him.

"We have gotten pretty good at it." Casey said and Derek laughed at this.

"Please, we perfected sibling rivalry. There isn't a better pair than us." Derek said while still laughing and Casey nodded her head. "You know Trevor said something to me back at their party and it got me thinking. We don't have to tell people we are step-siblings, we just would know each other." Derek pointed out to Casey who continued to look at him.

"What about Ashley and your roommate, or the people who actually know?" Casey asked him and he kind of just shrugged.

"It was just a nice idea. To be able to be around you without that title over our heads." Derek explained to her and she just looked at him for a long moment before she finally spoke.

"You need to stop saying stuff that makes me want to kiss you." Casey blurted out, but didn't look as if she was ashamed of what she had said.

"And why would you want to kiss me?" Derek asked, although he was growing closer to Casey, obviously thinking the same thing that she was.

"I have no clue." Casey admitted as she began to scoot closer to him. It seemed to be an eternity before his lips finally grazed hers, giving the two of them the simplest of tastes.

"Casey are you awake?" Ashley asked, her voice tired, making Casey quickly move away from Derek as if snapped out of whatever was going on.

"Yeah." Casey said, her eyes firmly on Derek who was looking back at her intensely. She then got Ashley a water bottle, who began talking about the show and the episode they were on, asking what they thought of the show so far. Casey sat back down on her bed, giving herself some space from Derek as the three of them continued to watch the show.


	5. Alive

**A/N:**** The song for this chapter is _Alive_ by Adelitas Way.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_And I'll be hanging on_

_Every word you say to me_

_Hanging on a feeling that I get_

_'Cause you make me_

_Laugh a little louder_

_Love a little harder_

Casey was oblivious to the world around her as she ran on a treadmill in the school's gym. She had her headphones in and a book propped open over the top of the machine. Practice had been cancelled, but Casey refused to make herself any less productive. She just concentrated on the book in front of her and kept running, her music blocking out all other noise.

Soon she found that she was just staring at the book, no longer reading it or flipping the pages. Her mind had wondered off and she continued to run, turning her music up louder.

Over the past month, Casey had been seeing Derek a lot more on the campus. Perhaps it was because they both stop avoiding each other, but she was suddenly running into him or his roommate, Mike, almost on a daily basis, some days more than once. It could also be the semester change, which meant new classes and shifting around daily routines.

Rachel had been happy now that Casey and Derek were no longer avoiding each other, as was Trevor, not wanting to have to put in effort to avoid him and his friends all the time. Of course, Trevor had no idea why Casey and Derek stopped talking to begin with, Rachel does know about graduation night.

She has told Casey many times that if her and Derek do not talk about what happened between them, then it will only lead them back to avoiding one another. Casey knew she was right and that they needed to talk about it, but she really just didn't want to bring it up and it didn't seem like Derek did either. It was even more important for them to bring it up and discuss it because ever since the blizzard, they have been slipping up and having little moments, like going to kiss one another.

Both of them casually brush it off, but how long can that last?

Casey continued to run, now faster and more determined because she was thinking and not reading. Her music continued to pump in her ears and she had been so distracted that she didn't even notice someone standing in front of the machine, leaning on it. She ran until she finally glanced up to see Derek making faces at her. She quickly stopped the machine and pulled out her headphones.

"I thought you had dance today." Derek said as her machine slowed to a stop. He would know since he had walked with her to the gym on the way to his Hockey practice. Casey took a drink from her water bottle before she answered him.

"It was cancelled and I wasn't about to waste the day." Casey informed him, grabbing her book off the machine and walking with Derek.

"So you work out and study at the same time. Only you, Casey." Derek said with a laugh and she shrugged her shoulders and heading into the girls' locker room. She emerged several minutes later with Ashley at her side. "I see we are picking up strays now and in the bathroom nonetheless." Derek pointed out and Ashley rolled her eyes.

"If anyone would be the stray, it would be you." Ashley retaliated with and Casey laughed at that one.

"Speaking of strays, if you plan on coming back to our room and watch one of the shows, you need to shower." Casey said to Derek and Ashley nodded her head before she froze. Casey sent Derek off to his dorm, telling him to head by when he was done.

"How would feel if I wasn't there for tonight?" Ashley said to Casey, who raised an eyebrow. "I kind of made a date for tonight and didn't even realize I couldn't have our TV show night and go on a date." She confessed and Casey couldn't help but shake her head and roll her eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder how you got into college." Casey pointed out and Ashley laughed dryly. The two of them then began to head off to their dorm.

Ashley set up one of her shows for Casey and Derek before she left so she wouldn't be behind on anything. Then it took her forever to leave because she got lost in the show. Derek finally reminded her that she had a date and she took off before she was too late. He then tried to change the show and put his on, but Casey stopped him.

"I want to watch this one. We can watch yours next week when Ashley is here." Casey pointed out to him, but Derek thought the show was too girly so this led to the two of them bickering over the two shows. Casey eventually reminded Derek that it was her dorm room and that he could leave if he didn't want to watch the show she wanted to watch.

"Fine." Derek said, before collapsing back down on the bed, sitting next to Casey. "So what's going on in the show? Who is sleeping with who in this episode?" Derek asked her and Casey rolled her eyes.

"You are such an ass." Casey said in an exasperated tone, making Derek smirk at her.

"Yeah, well you're a bitch, which must be why we get along so well." Derek responded with and she pondered this for a moment.

"We don't always get along very well." Casey reminded him and he nodded his head.

"We also know how to tolerate each other when we can't stand being around each other. That is not an easy feat for everyone." He pointed out to her and she looked impressed for a moment, before glancing back over to the TV. They then fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the show.

However, Casey found her mind trailing off to what Rachel had told her. Perhaps it was because the episode they were watching involved a friend trying to convince their friend to confront their problem, which involved a possible unwanted pregnancy. Thankfully, Casey did not have that problem, but she did sleep with her step-brother and she wasn't exactly sure how to live with it until she understood it… just why.

"What?" Derek asked her, making Casey look at him to realize he was looking at her. "Why what?"

"What?" Casey said, looking back at the show, realizing that she possibly may have said 'why' out loud.

"You tell me. You are the one who said 'why' at a point in the show where it actually didn't make sense to ask that." Derek said, still looking at her very confused. Well Casey you need to talk about it, so apparently this is your moment.

"Rachel knows about graduation night." Casey blurted out and the world suddenly became deafeningly quiet as Derek tensed up and looked away from Casey. "Both and Trevor noticed something going on between us and she wouldn't leave me alone about it so eventually I broke under her persistence." Casey confessed and Derek nodded slowly, not saying anything, which drove Casey crazy. "Say something."

"What do you want me to say?" Derek asked her, still very tense.

"I don't know. Rachel says we should really talk about it." Casey said quickly, but Derek shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it." Derek said simply, focusing much more on the show. It was that moment when Casey realized how much _she_ did need to talk about it.

"Well, I think we need to talk." Casey said to him firmly, but he didn't even moment. "Derek!" Casey snapped at him and it was that moment that he finally did move. He did not hesitate one bit as he looked at her and moved forward, immediately capturing her lips in rough manner that Casey found herself responded to instantly. He pushed her back onto the bed so they were laying down rather than sitting, making Casey completely forget about their conversation.

Although, Derek chose then to continue the conversation, barely inches from her face. "I don't want to talk about it because that would mean I would have to think about it. If I think about it then I will be reminded about how much I really do not regret it." Derek said to her and Casey just stared at him, not sure what she should say. "Now what do you have to say." Derek said to her as his phone went off, making them both sit back up.

"I would have to say that is a reason we need to talk about it." Casey said after a moment, but Derek didn't respond to her speaking at all, simply just staring at his phone. "What?" Casey asked, scooting over so she could see what was going on.

"Guess who is back." Derek said, reading off the text as Casey read it.

"Sam?" Casey asked, although she could see that he sent the text. Besides, she knew it was him as soon as she read it, instinctively moving a little bit away from Derek so they were no longer touching.

"He can't-" Derek began with but Casey cut him off.

"Oh, I know. I don't want him to know either." Casey said, which now became another thing they needed to talk about, however it would have to be another time. Derek was now on the phone with Sam, who was on campus and ready to meet up. Casey watched as Derek paced around the room, taking to his best friend who he hadn't heard from in months.

"Well, get ready." Derek said to Casey once he hung up the phone, which made her stand up from the bed.

"So we're all going out?" Casey asked although she knew it was an obvious answer.

"I'm going to get Ralph, you get ahold of Rachel and Trevor." Derek directed to her and she nodded her head, walking over to her closet and looking through it for an outfit to wear. Derek slipped out her dorm room without saying another word.

She sent a text to Rachel saying that she needed to round up Trevor because they were all going out tonight. Casey figured it would be more fun to make it a surprise. She got a text from Derek telling her where to meet them just before the other two showed up. Promising that they will enjoy the surprise, they followed her out into the cold as they walked to the bar.

* * *

Casey had found Derek in the bar immediately, Ralph sitting right next to him. On the other side of Derek was Sam, who turned around as the other three approached them at the bar. Sam's hair was just a bit longer and he had more facial hair now, looking much more mature and handsome than boyishly cute boy Casey remembered.

"Sam!" Casey said excitedly as he got up and hugged her, before greeting Rachel and Trevor, who were both happy and very surprised. "What happened to being back in time for Christmas?" Casey asked Sam with a swat at his arm as Derek ordered a round of drinks. "You are also very bad at keeping in touch. No postcards?" Casey asked and Sam did laugh a bit at that one, but answered neither of her questions.

The night then consisted of closing down the bar and laughing loudly, not bothered by the chilly night, as they all walked back to their dorms. Casey and Rachel headed into their building as the guys continued on towards the building, Sam staying with Derek for the night since his roommate was conveniently home for the weekend.

"So how is college life, D?" Sam asked when they separated from Trevor.

"They don't lie when they tell you it is nothing like high school." Derek replied with a laugh.

"Would you say you miss high school then?" He asked next and Derek shrugged a bit as he unlocked his door.

"Mostly just how easy it was for me to skate through. I'm actually spending most of my time studying." Derek admitted as he turned on the lights, leading Sam into his room. Not as messy as Sam had expected, but it was nowhere near put together.

"How about girls?" Sam asked, skating right over the topic of studying, which Derek didn't really mind.

"Wide range of girls." Derek said, although he hadn't really dove into the girl aspect of college life yet, which he added as an afterthought.

"Well we did bring a few girls from high school with us." Sam pointed out and Derek raised an eyebrow as they settled into the room, Derek turning on the generally small television.

"Kendra, Rachel and Casey? I'll stick with the new girls, they are all yours." Derek said, wondering now why Sam was asking so many questions. At first he assumed that perhaps he was really curious about college life, as they were all curious about his oversea adventure. However, now it mostly just seemed to be getting a little strange.

"Not even Casey?" Sam asked, this time speaking slower than he had all the other times.

"Now I know this has got to be the alcohol talking." Derek said, rolling his eyes and focusing on the TV and not on the heavy thud his heart gave.

"Dude, I know." Sam said and Derek shook his head, not able to believe that Sam knew anything. "I know about you and Casey." Sam said firmly this time.

"What" Derek stammered a bit, before finishing with "are you talking about?"

"Graduation night." Sam said, making Derek look forward, not wanting to look at Sam. He put on his best confused face as his mind began to begin to think of excuses for that night.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Derek continued with, knowing he told no one about it and Casey didn't seem too keen to be telling anyone about it.

"You left your phone with me. I came through the backdoor and went down to your room." Sam explained, Derek still not looking at him, trying his best to look confused and thoughtful now. "Casey's door was cracked and I had seen the two of you in there." Sam explained and Derek was suddenly thrown back to that night.

He remembered when he first walked into Casey's room that night that he tapped the door with his foot. He can't recall if he heard it actually shut, but he never checked it to be honest. Plus it was mostly dark besides her pink lights. Depending on what he had seen the two of them doing…

"I had to stay in her room since my room was occupied for the night by her dad." Derek reasoned, his mind half distracted as it wandered off to memories of Casey from that night. "If you mean you saw me comforting her as he drunkenly cried about graduation, than I know what you are talking about. Other than that, I have no idea." Derek said, hoping that perhaps Sam had seen them when they were still standing and clothed.

Sam look confused for a moment, letting Derek remember exactly how they ended up in the bed and making him realize how much he wanted that all over again. Perhaps Casey was right, that they needed to talk about it.

"It looked… well it looked more physical than crying, but, I mean, maybe a drunk breakdown." Sam said in a drunken manner, trying to think of what he had exactly seen before dropping Derek's phone on the ground and storming out of the house.

"You were drunk then and you are drunk now. You need to just pass out." Derek told him, making his voice sound a little annoyed. He then told him to crash on his roommate's bed, before he shut off the light and got into his own bed. There he stared at the ceiling, wondering if Sam would believe the story in the morning or if he would wake up sober with more suspicions.

* * *

Sam had returned to their childhood home the next day since he was not actually registered for school yet. Then months then began to pass and spring break was soon upon them. Derek had yet to tell Casey about his conversation with Sam, but he knew he needed to because he did tell Sam she spent the night crying. The last thing he needed was for Sam to be suspicious because even Derek felt deep down that Sam never got over Casey.

Needless to say, Casey was very happy when Derek finally told her about Sam questioning him that night. She flipped, obviously since he waited for so long and then she immediately began to panic, which is why Derek put off telling her.

"I had planned to tell you before we seen Sam again, but then he came for spring break and I had to make sure I seen you before he seen you and you give it all away." Derek explained to Casey who was sitting on her bed, staring at him in shock. Derek explained to her everything that Sam had said to him and he told her everything he said to him in response, not leaving a detail out.

"You told him that I cried on your shoulder?" Casey asked him shocked and Derek kind of nodded, shrugging his shoulders. He then said that there was obviously more hugging involved in her breakdown, but yeah that is the basic idea. "Is it bad that I don't know which is more degrading, sex with you and crying to you." Casey said with her nose turned up, making Derek roll his eyes.

"Well I can tell you which one Sam finds more degrading." Derek snapped at her and Casey rolled her eyes a bit.

"Come on, Der, why am I less serious then you?" Casey asked him with a smile and Derek rolled his eyes.

"Because you're turned on by thinking of getting caught?" Derek asked back and Casey looked at him shocked.

"No I'm terrified someone would find out. The thing is, we have nothing left to hide, we act normal and the only witness to that night believes your story." Casey reasoned and Derek slowly nodded his head. "So is this us talking about that night?" Casey asked him after a long moment of mutual silence.

"I guess so. Not like there is much else to talk about." Derek said and Casey nodded her head.

"Yeah, I mean we both agree it should be kept quiet, especially from Sam so I guess that is all that really matters." Casey said in a bit of a rambling way and Derek sort of nodded his head. "So friends?" Casey asked, holding out her hand for him to shake. He let out a simple laugh and went along with it, nodding his head and shaking her hand.

_And I feel alive when I'm with you_

_Every time it's something new_

_Never knew what love could feel like_

_Until I walked away the first time_

"So where is Derek tonight?" Sally asked Sam as they sat on a couch at one of Ralph's friend's party. They had been here for a while now, but recently lost Ralph and didn't know anyone else at the party.

"Getting all of his homework done so he is free the rest of break." Sam said in a very serious manner while Sally looked at him quite surprised. "I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't actually seen him working on it." He explained and Sally looked rather impressed.

"Who knew college would actually buckle Derek down." Sally mentioned and Sam chuckled a bit, before getting up to refill their drinks. Sally sat on the couch, mostly playing with her the tips of her hair. She looked around the party at the others dancing and socializing, not very interested in joining them.

Sam was making his way back over to the couch as another guy went to sit down. "My boyfriend is sitting there." Sally said, pointing to Sam as he walked up with the two drinks. The guy backed off and Sam sat back on the couch.

"Sprite, right?" Sam asked, handing Sally her drink. "So about this boyfriend thing I was never informed about." Sam said with a laugh and Sally chuckled a bit before she responded.

"Did you want to give up your seat?" Sally asked and Sam shook his head, taking a drink from his beer. "Why haven't we ever talked before?" She asked him and Sam raised an eyebrow.

"You were Derek's girlfriend. I don't think he would have liked it much." Sam confessed and Sally nodded her head a bit.

"What do you think he would think about it now?" Sally asked him and this time Sam took a moment to think about it, before laughing a bit.

"He wouldn't like it much." Sam said again and Sally laughed as well.

"Well then I guess you should give up your seat." Sally suggested and Sam looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Derek needs someone to push his buttons." Sam said and Sally nodded her head eagerly because it was true. Derek always pressed buttons, but no one pressed his buttons. Apparently deciding exactly how he wanted to push Derek's buttons, he leaned forward and kissed Sally. Although she was surprised she did immediately responded to the kiss, deepening it. However, just as suddenly as it began, it ended just as quickly.

"Well that would certainly send him a message." Sally said to him, smiling.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Sam said and Sally nodded her head a bit.

"I was going to stop you eventually anyway." Sally said waving it off. "Seems to me like you feel the need to rebel against Derek." Sally pointed out to him and he looked at her.

"Have you ever thought about Derek and Casey?" Sam asked Sally before he even knew what he was saying and she looked at him confused.

"Like together?" Sally asked him, her confusion showing in her voice. Sam scratched his head, thinking of the best way to phrase it, but Sally seemed to get it. "No. I mean sure they get along now, but they could never see each other like that." Sally said firmly shaking her head. "And maybe it's not Derek's attention you're trying to get." She pointed out after a moment and Sam looked at her.

"Are you saying I'm not over Casey?" Sam asked her, his voice sounding defensive.

"No, you're saying it." Sally said with a simple shrug, before trying to change the conversation.

* * *

"I'm so glad you woke up early to work out with me. No one else wants to get up early because it's break." Casey said to Sam as they walked towards the student gym.

"Not even Derek? He's been pretty crazy about keeping in shape for hockey." Sam pointed out and Casey shrugged a bit.

"Didn't think to ask." She replied with simply, although she had asked Derek, she just figured it would be best not to tell Sam that.

"So you two haven't gotten closer or anything?" Sam asked her and Casey raised an eyebrow, glancing over at him. He was trying to question her about Derek, so her best bet was to just answer casually and relaxed.

"I guess you can say we have, but to be fair, I think we've mostly gotten used to each other." Casey admitted and Sam nodded his head slowly.

"So do you guys ever hang out?" He asked and Casey looked over at him, giving him a confused look.

"Once in a while. During the snow storm, he was stuck with Ashley and me in our room. Now the three of us watch a few TV shows together." She said, still looking at him.

"I guess I just never thought there would be a time when I didn't hear constant bickering between the two of you." Sam admitted and Casey smiled a bit.

"I bet everyone is relived then." Casey said with a laugh and Sam nodded his head.

"Something like that." Sam said as they entered the gym.

* * *

Casey was walking back from Derek's dorm, having quickly dropped off Sam after their workout. She walked across the campus, noticing that the bright sunny morning was fading away as dark clouds rolled in. Casey wondered if it was just a passing storm or if would continue to rain for the rest of the day. Right in the middle of her thought, a pair of hands covered her eyes, forcing her to stop walking.

"I'm transferring to Queens for my last two years." Sally voice said into Casey's ear, making Casey shake herself from Sally's grip to turn around and look at the blonde.

"You're kidding." Casey stated, still somewhat in shock.

"Not at all. My parents moved closer this way and right now is just a time when I need to be closer to them." Sally said with a firm nod of her head, followed by a laugh.

"This is so exciting." Casey said, clapping her hands together and hugging the other girl.

"What's going on here?" Derek asked, walking up to the two of them. The two girl informed him that Sally was transferring, which he thought was great news, but was not nearly as excited as the girls. "If I was the type of person that was paranoid, I would worry about my ex and step-sister being this good of friends. I would also think you were avoiding me." Derek said to them, the last bit looking directly at Casey. "Returning Sam to my room and not even saying hi to me. So rude." He pointed out to her and she rolled her eyes.

"Says the one who was too lazy to get up to workout. Actually both of you are lazy." Casey said, before pointing to both of them because she tried to convince both of them to get up with her.

"I'm actually on my way there since Sam if going to be taking a nap. Thank you for tiring out my friend." Derek said to her, a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he walked away from them.

"It is kind of weird." Sally said in a offhandedly manner. Casey raised an eyebrow, the two of them now walking to Casey's dorm. "Seeing you and Derek get along. I never really thought about it, but it is really different with all the challenges between you two." Sally pointed out to Casey who looked at her confused.

"Why is everyone analyzing the fact that we tolerate each other now. We got along well enough senior year." Casey said to her and Sally shrugged her shoulders as they entered Casey's building.

"Who would have thought everyone would come to miss the fights between the two of you." Sally said with a smile and Casey rolled her eyes, wondering if that was really it, although knowing it probably was not.

"We've been slowly getting used to each other since we all moved in together."

"That or the two of you finally grew up." Sally tossed in and Casey rolled her eyes again, telling Sally to go get Ashley before going on to Rachel's room. She opened the door to Rachel's room, who turned around as soon as Casey walked in.

"You are so in denial." Rachel said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"It's not denial, I'm just selective about the reality I accept." Casey responded with automatically, before thought about it for a moment. "What am I in denial about again?" Casey asked, shutting the door behind her.

"The feelings you have for Sam to cover up your feelings for Derek." Rachel explained to Casey, who simply looked confused.

"What are you going on about now?" Casey asked, sitting down on Rachel's bed, Sally using Rachel's roommates bed.

"The feelings that you realized you have for Sam buried deep within." Rachel said as if it was completely obvious.

"I haven't realized any hidden feelings." Casey pointed out to her and Rachel stop moving for a moment before nodding her head.

"Good, then we can just focus on feelings for Derek." Rachel said and Casey looked at her bewildered.

"I do not have feelings for Derek." Casey said firmly, making Rachel stop again.

"Oh, you're really going to do this?" Rachel asked, not able to believe Casey did not have feelings for either of them. Casey crossed her arms. "Fine then you can be that way and I won't offer my help." She said giving up the conversation, but Casey couldn't help but smile.

"You're jumping to conclusions." Casey informed her and Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment, before she shook her head.

"Maybe you just haven't reached those conclusions yet." Rachel concurred with when the door opened, Sally and Ashley now there so they could start their girls night.

* * *

Casey couldn't be sure what Sam did for the entire time he was there for spring break and she was sure Derek couldn't either. The two of them had found themselves making excuses to hang out and watch movies or shows. They would curl up on Casey's bottom bunk and just watch the television and talk to one another.

It was all completely innocent, but deep down they both knew it was more than that. They were stepping through dangerous territory, but they both just acted completely oblivious to that. The inevitable will always happen, especially when you stick them alone in a room together.

"What are we doing?" Casey got the courage to ask Derek on one of the last nights of spring break. Casey was sure that by how they left Sam alone at the school, and he wasn't complaining, that he probably found people to spend time with.

"We are currently watching one of your girly shows." Derek said matter-of-factly, his eyes still on the television. Since when did Derek stop hanging out with his friends to watch shows like _Gossip Girl_ with Casey. When she mentioned that to him, he grew defensive. "Would you rather I be out with Sam?" He asked her and Casey pursed her lips.

"No." She said quickly at first. "Yes." She said, much more defensive the second time. "I don't really know." She added with a bit of confusion after a second. He shook his head, getting up from the bed and walking by Casey's closet.

"Well then what do you want?" Derek asked, obviously annoyed. Although, he was usually very easily annoyed whenever something was brought up that he didn't want to talk about.

"I want to know what we are doing." Casey said, getting up from her bed as well and walking over to him.

"We're just friends, hanging out." Derek said simply and Casey narrowed her eyes.

"Wasn't it you that said guys and girls can never really be friends." She reminded him and he rolled his eyes.

"What are you expecting something to happen?" Derek asked her and she shrugged a bit.

"Maybe." She said and Derek raised an eyebrow, but that was all that he needed. He pulled her closer by grabbing her waist before crashing his lips down to hers. She responded quickly to the abrupt kiss, throwing her arms around his neck, only to hear three quick knocks on the door, forcing the two of them to separate.

Casey pulled away from Derek and walked over to door, opening it to find a somewhat frantic looking Sally in her doorway. Casey felt her heart drop, wondering if Sally would wonder why Derek was there.

"What's up Sally?" Casey asked, using her name so Derek would know who it was since he couldn't see from where he was standing.

"Casey, I'm four months pregnant." Sally blurted out and Casey opened her mouth to stop her but it came out so fast.

"What?" Derek said from where he was standing, apparently unable to control himself, which let Sally know he was there.

"Oh god." Sally said as she walked into the room, now able to see Derek.

"Is that why you are transferring to Queens?" Casey asked, trying to break up the silence, but Sally merely just nodded her head. She continued to look at Derek, who continued to look at her.

"I have to go." Sally said quickly, walking back out of the room and very quickly down the hall.

"What the hell was that?" Derek asked and Casey shrugged a bit.

"Seems she didn't want to tell you."

"I think that would be the cue for me to go." Derek said, making his way out of the dorm, Casey agreeing with him and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

The last night of Spring break was spent at the bar to celebrate the fact that Casey and Sam will soon be nineteen. Casey spent the party drinking and watching the others around her. Derek avoided her, which she had seen coming, and Sally sat nearby with the girls, drinking a nonalcoholic drink. Sam was off talking to students he met around the school and Ralph was getting ridiculously drunk.

Casey finally up from her seat when she seen Ralph practically fall into another room in the bar. She walked over to the room, walking in and noticed that Ralph was standing and had not fallen over.

"Casey!" Ralph said happily and Casey laughed a bit, walking over to him and getting him to sit down on a bench.

"You are really drunk." Casey informed him and he shook his head to say no.

"Yeah I am." He said and Casey laughed again. "You're so pretty." He said, leaning in to kiss her, but Casey was quick to stop him.

"Whoa, were not going there." Casey said to him, moving him so he was sitting up straight again.

"No fun." He said, before going in to try again. Casey stopped him, but this time he used much more force than the first time. He pushed back against and she fought against him.

"Stop." She said to him forcefully, but the more she fought back, the more drunkenly forceful he got.

"Hey!" A voice said behind them, before Sam realized what was going on and pulled Ralph away from Casey. "What the hell is going on?" Sam asked Ralph who was having a rough time, remaining his balance.

"Oh I don't want to hear anything from you." Ralph slurred to Sam, who rolled his eyes. "I saw you with Sally, what do they call it overseas, shagging, snogging, something like that." Ralph blurted out, making Casey look at Sam shocked as Ralph stumbled out of the room.

"He won't get too far, I'll deal with him in a minute." Sam said to Casey before he started to explain to her what had happened the other night.

"Wait this happened the other night?" Casey asked him and he nodded his head. "Not back in January?" Casey asked him just to be sure and he looked at her as if he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"So I guess Sally did talk to you." He said and Casey nodded her head, somewhat confused. "She didn't get a chance to tell you who the father is though." Sam pointed out and Casey shook her head.

"So it's not you, right?" Casey asked just to confirm and Sam nodded his head.

"It's Ralph." Sam said and Casey had to sit back down on the bench to process what she had just been told.

"He has no clue." Casey said, not asking because she was positive she was right. Sam nodded his head.

_And I feel alive when I'm with you_

_Deep inside, it's something true_

_You're the only reason I fight_

_You're the best thing in my life_


	6. Save Yourself

**A/N: **I know it has been a while since I updated. Quite a few months. I always like to find time, but I never seem to be able to. Well anyways, here is chapter six. I will do my best to get chapter seven out quickly, but motivation never hurt anyone...

The song in this chapter is Save Yourself by My Darkest Days

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_**Fall 2010**_

_You're the prefect drug_

_When it hurts like hell_

_I never needed anyone so much_

_There's no one else I love_

_And I curse myself_

_Cause the right thing is to give you up_

Casey and Derek sat at the dining room table eating their breakfast with their younger siblings. Their stuff was already packed up and in the car, ready to go whenever they decided it was time to go. The two of them ate their breakfast slowly, watching their family get ready for school, while Casey and Derek still had a week until classes began.

"I need the minivan tonight. I have Marti's carpool for gymnastics after work and not to mention picking Lizzie and her friends up from soccer practice." Nora said to George as he tossed her the keys from the key rack.

"I'm not in soccer this year." Lizzie informed her mom, which stopped everyone from what they were doing to look at her. "It's not really my thing anymore. I think I'm going to take a break and maybe tryout for the hockey team or something." Lizzie mentioned casually, but everyone just looked at her, not able to believe she dropped soccer just like that. "Edwin has a girlfriend!" Lizzie said quickly to get the attention off of her, and it worked.

"Who?" Casey and Derek asked Edwin at the same time, noticing that he turned a little bit red.

"Paige." He informed them, which made Nora and George smile.

"Sam's sister?!" Derek and Casey said at the same time, making Edwin raise an eyebrow.

"That's creepy. I have to go." He said, grabbing his bag off the back of his chair before heading out the door.

"I have to go too." Lizzie said, standing up from the table. Nora asked if she was meeting up with her friends before school since it was still quite early. "I have to see the school counselor, Paul." Lizzie said, waving it off, making Casey remember Paul fondly, while Nora raised an eyebrow.

"About what exactly?" Nora asked Lizzie, who was putting her bag over her shoulder and walking to the door.

"My schedule but mostly my attitude, I guess." Lizzie said with a shrug and Nora sighed, before saying she would drive her as soon as Noah finished breakfast. Once he finished his breakfast, Nora let him say bye to 'Bear' and 'Saysey' before grabbing his hand and leading him out of the house after Lizzie.

"Rachel already left with Trevor, Sally got there yesterday and Ashley will be there by tonight. Do you know if Sam will be ready to leave for school today?" Casey asked since they were scheduled to leave two days ago. This year she rented a place near school with the girls and she was supposed to be first one there, but Sam wasn't exactly ready to be heading back to school and he kept delaying it.

"As hard as it is to believe, I am dying to get out of this overcrowded house as much as you." Derek said rolling his eyes as he got up from the table with his plate, walking back into the kitchen. "I texted him before breakfast and he is still sleeping apparently." He said when he walked back to the table, tossing his phone onto the table.

"He is not going to be ready until next week." Casey complained and Derek shrugged a bit.

"I'll go over there after a nice shower. Why didn't you just go with Rachel?" Derek asked as he walked up the steps.

"All my stuff is already packed in the car with your stuff from the other day. I wasn't about to risk not having anything for a week." Casey complained to him as he disappeared upstairs and she doubted that he was even still listening by the end of it. By the time she cleared her plate from breakfast, Casey decided that she would just go over to Sam's and wake him up.

Casey was surprised to see Sam's sister's bright green eyes at the front door when she got to Sam's house. Katie is a year older and Casey doesn't really know much about her, although she was pretty smart from what Casey heard, but apparently had a tendency to party too much.

"It's so good to see you, Casey." The girl with dark blonde hair said and Casey was honestly surprised that she remembered her.

"You too. Is Sam awake?" Casey asked, not trying to brush the girl off, but wanting to know if Sam had even begun packing.

"He is eating breakfast." Katie said, letting Casey into the house. "By the way, he has not done more then get all of his laundry done and our mom did that." She explained to Casey with a sad smile, knowing exactly why Casey was here.

"Why is he doing this?" Casey asked in a low voice, not wanting to be overheard as Katie shut the front door.

"He's the shy one in the family and he's not ready to go off to college. For a while on our trip overseas he kept reminding me that he did a very impulsively stupid thing by taking off. The point is, I'm going out to the school tonight with a friend if you want a ride." Katie tossed in and Casey listened to how quickly she spoke, rambling it all off, before Casey realized something.

"Wait, are you going to go to Queens?" Casey asked and Katie smiled.

"Parents made me enroll. Don't tell Sam, I want it to be a surprise." She said with a wink, before leading Casey to Sam, who was surprised to see Casey here without Derek.

"Hey Case, what are you doing here?" Sam asked and Casey shook her head at him.

"I am going back to the house to pick up Derek. You have until we get back to get everything you don't want me to see packed up because when I get back, we are packing your stuff and leaving for school." Casey said to him in a very serious manner, before smiling brightly at him.

"Casey." Was all Sam said before Casey put up her hand.

"Don't take me seriously, but your stuff is coming to school with us, with or without you." Casey explained to him, before nodding her head and walking back towards the door. Casey walked out the front door and went to get back in the car when her phone began to go off. Sighing, she put her purse on the hood of the car and dug her phone out.

"I should be on my way in a few hours." Casey said to Rachel as soon as she answered the phone while she opened the car door.

"Well I will be back by then." Rachel responded with, which made Casey shut the car door again.

"What do you mean?" Casey asked and she could hear Rachel saying something to Trevor so she waited for a response.

"So Trevor's parents were planning a birthday dinner for him and they were going to tell him today to invite his friends. We just got the call." She explained and Casey sighed, leaning against the car. "We just got to the school so we're grabbing Sally and heading back." Rachel said, her tone not sounding the least bit thrilled. Although Casey couldn't blame her since it was an dreadfully long ride.

"I'm guessing you would love to explain in the further detail when you get back." Casey said and she knew Rachel was smiling.

"You know me so well. So you in a few hours at my house." Rachel finished with before she hung up her end of the phone. Casey went to get in the car, putting her phone back in her purse as she sat down. By the time she shut the door, her phone was going off again. Of course, it would be Derek.

"I'm on my way back. I'll explain everything, so be ready when I get there." Casey said quickly into the her phone before hanging up and throwing it back in her purse before starting the car and leaving Sam's house.

Derek grabbed the last few boxes, that were stacked by the door, out to the car. Casey and Sam were glancing around his room one last time to make sure he had grabbed everything he would need.

"Have you told Ralph about the party yet?" Sam asked and Casey hesitated for a moment, making sure that Derek was definitely out of earshot before she spoke.

"I told him that the party to test him would be at school after it resumes. I guess we can see if he is ready." Casey said, slowly thinking about it for a moment. Ralph had turned for the worst after he attacked Casey and finally broke down asking her for help. Along with Sam, they have been helping Ralph avoid drinking, including talking to him in the middle of the night. Of course, no one else knew how bad his drinking got or that Casey and Sam were helping him overcome the problem.

"Call him now. I'll keep Derek busy." Sam said before slipping out of the room, leaving Casey with no choice. She grabbed her phone and found Ralph on her recent call list, quite close to the top. She waited for him to answer

"I'm almost ready. My car is packed up I swear." Ralph said as soon as he answered the phone, but it didn't really matter if Casey believed him or not.

"Actually, there has been a change of plans." Casey said, before she began explaining to him about Trevor's party tonight. She then went on to explain that there would be alcohol around and that this would be the time to prove he can make it without drinking.

"I am not nearly ready for this. I can just miss this party." He reasoned but Casey wouldn't have it.

"Kendra will be there." Casey said, which meant she would have to call Kendra and then give Trevor a reason why she invited her. "She's been thinking about getting back together with you. This could be really good for you." Casey encouraged and the other end was silent for a moment so she knew he was thinking about it.

"Are you sure this will be good?" He asked her and she nodded her head before realizing that he couldn't see her.

"Of course. Nothing could go wrong, you've been doing so well." Casey reasoned and Ralph eventually caved, agreeing to attend the party and be a designated driver. After the phone call with Ralph, Casey then called Kendra to inform her of the new plan.

Kendra had been weighing the idea of getting back together with Ralph all summer. Apparently she misses him terribly, and although what he did was wrong, she can see that he is suffering without her. As conceded as it sounded, she was very much true because Ralph was a disaster without her.

It hadn't been hard to convince Kendra to go the party, especially because she hadn't planned on leaving for school until tomorrow. As she was texting Rachel to tell her that, Sam and Derek began calling her from downstairs. She quickly sent Rachel a message saying that Sam, Derek, Ralph and her would be going, along with Kendra, before she left Sam's room.

Casey said goodbye to Paige and Haley, who gave them a hand carrying Sam's belongings to the car. She headed down the stairs, Derek heading out the front door and Sam walking out of the kitchen.

"All set?" Sam asked as he was heading towards front door, getting ready to leave the house.

"Ralph will be there. Kendra, too." Casey said, adding the last bit as she followed him out the door. This made Sam stop and take a few steps back so he was standing next to Casey.

"You are trying to get Ralph and Kendra back together at a party that Sally will be attending?" Sam asked her and she pursed her lips.

"That is Sally's secret and she has made it clear she wants to wait until after the baby is born before she tells Ralph." Casey said, far too proud to admit that she had momentarily forgot that Sally would be coming.

"Case, this is a bad idea." Sam told her as she walked towards the door.

"No it's not. I think it is falling together just perfectly." Casey said, although she seemed to be trying to convince herself of that as well.

"That's because it's your idea!" Sam shouted after her as she walked out the door, leaving him with nothing left to do but follow her and hope everything worked out how she planned it to.

Casey led Derek and Sam up to the front door of Rachel's house. They hadn't made it there yet, but they should be arriving soon and Casey was sick of waiting at her house. Derek and Sam had not wasted any time following her, both of them now ready to just leave for school and get settled into their dorm.

"Mom, Dad! The good girl that dared to be friends with Rachel is here!" David yelled as he let the three of them into the house. "You do know that Rachel left for school with Trevor several hours ago." He pointed out to them as he shut the front door.

"That's because she was only friends with Rachel to get closer to our family." Rachel's mom said as she walked into the living room from the kitchen. Before anyone could say anything else, the front door opened, Trevor walking into the house. "Oh, not him again. What are you doing back here?" She said in a whiney voice, making Casey laugh a bit as she watched the scene, Derek and Sam exchanging looks.

"I dropped your daughter off at school and came back to whisk you away." Trevor said in a joking manner moments before Rachel led a very pregnant Sally into the house.

"It is so hot outside." Sally said, using one of her notebooks to fan herself.

"Mom I need some of Rebecca's dresses." Rachel said, making Trevor roll his eyes and making her mom clap her hands and rush upstairs to go through her eldest daughter's clothing.

"Dress?" Casey asked, wondering if Rachel just did that to make her mom leave the room.

"She is making a big deal about this party at my parents. I would prefer if everyone showed up dressed as they actually are, normal college students." Trevor said but Rachel just shook her head.

"Girls wear dresses and it will keep your parents off them a bit. Now take the guys to your house and we will see you in a bit." Rachel said to Trevor, who simply gave up and reopened the front door. Derek scratched his head a bit, digging into his pocket for his keys before tossing them to Casey.

"Pick up Ralph!" Casey said to them as they shut the front door.

"Not that she won't be a bad addition, but you invited Kendra?" Rachel asked, making Sally look up real fast.

"What are you doing, Casey?" Sally asked her in a warning voice from her seat on the couch, still fanning herself. Rachel looked at Sally for a moment before looking at Casey.

"You have a lot of explaining to do." Rachel said as her mom came back down the stairs.

Almost two hours later, Kendra had arrived at Rachel's and the four of them piled into Derek's car, heading over to Trevor's house. Casey managed to get out of explaining to Rachel what was going on. However, Sally had a moment to tell Casey she knew what she was doing, inviting Ralph and Kendra. Although she agrees that they should be together, she would rather she not be there, not that she really had a choice anymore.

No one really spoke most of the ride except for Kendra, who spoke only of how she was nervous excited to see Ralph. Sally kept asking if she was sure to love everything about Ralph again, including all the flaws and negatives that may come with it, not matter what it may be. Casey kept eyeing Sally, while Kendra mostly said that she was hoping she would know what to do when she sees him.

"Where is Trevor's house exactly?" Casey asked as she made the turn Rachel told her to make. "We aren't even in Thompson High school district anymore."

"He was kicked out of all the private schools his parents sent him to and they paid a lot to get him into Thompson." Rachel explained before saying it was the house on their left, Casey pulling into a large wrap around driveway.

"I thought I had a large house and I could fit two of my houses in this one." Kendra said in a loud and surprised voice. Casey sent Kendra a look telling her to shut up, before looking at Rachel.

"So there is a few things Trevor never mentioned about his life." Rachel added in, before opening up her door and proceeding to help Sally get out of the car, while the other two had no choice but to get out of the car.

The four girls walked up the house and were immediately greeted by Trevor's mom as she opened the front door. Far from what they had expected Trevor's mom, the mother of the punk guy at school, to look like. She let them into the house, shutting the door behind them and turning to smile.

"The guys just got here a few minutes ago. They are in the dining room with Trevor's father." She said, leading them through the house and into the dining room where a long table was set up, a maid placing plates at each seat.

"These must be the lovely ladies." Trevor's father said as they walked into the room. "Nice to see you again, Rachel." He said and she smiled, walking over and talking to him.

"I met Ralph before since he was roommates with Trevor. He says he has quit drinking at the ripe old age of nineteen." Trevor's mother said and the girls exchanged looks as Trevor quickly rushed over.

"You've already traumatized Rachel, do you really need to talk to them." He said to his mother who smiled at him sweetly.

"Oh honey, I just want to get to know your friends. They are so much different than I expected. I expected a lot more black and chains, maybe some weird piercings and tattoos." She said with a light laugh, making the girls smile and laugh a bit awkwardly.

"I need to talk to Casey. Be nice." Trevor said, adding the last bit to him mom, before leading Casey out of the room. She followed him into another room, where he turned around and shut the door. Casey assumed this room to be the library since it was beyond full of books on shelves and some on a couple tables.

"You need to talk?" Casey asked him when he didn't say anything right away. He hesitated for another moment, before speaking.

"I was roommates with Ralph all last year and I watched as his drinking progressed all year. Yet, over the summer, he has quit drinking and I find it ironic that you also invited Kendra to the party." Trevor explained to her and Casey nodded her head a bit.

"Sam and I have been helping Ralph. He got out of control with his drinking and the only way he would be able to get Kendra back is if he cleans himself up." She elaborated for him and he began shaking his head.

"This could end really bad. Ralph is barely a heartbeat sober and then bringing Kendra around him, who isn't sure what she wants anymore. Did you think about this at all?" He asked her and she kind of shrugged a bit.

"It will be fine and we better get back out there to make sure." She said as she opened the door, Rachel rushing into the room, practically slamming the door behind her.

"That baby is Ralph's!" Rachel proclaimed and Casey took a deep breath, wincing slightly. "All the signs. I can't believe. What!"

"Casey!" Trevor snapped, which made Casey cover her face with her hands and take another deep breath, before running her hands through her hair.

"Look she doesn't want anyone to know and right now it is only supposed to be me and Sam." Casey explained to Rachel and Trevor quickly cut in.

"Who are you and Sam fixing Ralph for, Sally or Kendra?" Trevor asked her sharply and she opened her mouth to speak before she realized that she did not actually know the answer to that question. She always assumed that once Ralph was better he would get back with Kendra, but the truth was she may have helped clean him up because he will be father.

"I momentarily forgot Sally would be here." Casey admitted and Trevor had heard enough, leaving the room to make sure that the party remained under control. For everyone's sanity.

Dinner past without a problem. Although Trevor's mom made quite a few comments that they tried to take as compliments, but they were all pretty harsh ones. Once they finished eating and the dinner conversation, the workers brought out a cake. They moved into the living room and were served cake and coffee. It was mostly an awkward evening and Trevor's mom seemed to only dig the knife deeper.

"I would like to take this time to say that we are selling the house." Trevor's dad announced, which brought everyone's attention to him. "Given that Trevor is now away at college, we decided to look for a new place and even found one closer to Queen's." He informed them.

"We even have a quest house we are thinking of renting out." His mother added in and his father continued to smile, while Trevor looked far from pleased. "Sally, we would be more than happy to make a deal for you and the baby. I mean if the father isn't involved." She put in, which made Trevor jump up from his seat.

"Mom!" He snapped, while she looked at him innocently.

"I'm only say, we haven't heard anything about the father." She said, while the others just looked on.

"It's okay, really. I am used to the questions and with the help of my friends, I have a place to live and raise _my_ baby." Sally said confidently, refusing to let Trevor's mother get under her skin.

"Was the guy some scumbag that took off?" The mother asked and Trevor looked like he wanted to kill his mother, while the rest of the group looked like a mix of awkward and interested.

"No, it was a one night thing." Sally said, pursing her lips. Casey was watching Sally closely and she could feel Rachel looking at her.

"That is enough, mom." Trevor said in a warning tone, but his mom waved him off.

"It looks like I am not the only one interested. So do you know who the father is, or could it be more than one option?" She asked and Casey took this moment to glace over to Ralph. He was almost sitting on the edge of his seat and Casey knew that he was finally questioning the possibility that he never noticed before. Kendra sat next to him, looking interested, but Casey knew she was completely oblivious to why Ralph was so intrigued.

"There is only one guy it could be." Sally said and Casey turned to look at her, noticing that she was looking directly at Ralph, who was now extremely pale white.

"Is it someone we know?" Kendra asked, jumping into the conversation, while Casey did everything she could to avoid Trevor and Sam's eyes because she knew they were on her. Kendra smiled a bit and glanced over to Ralph before she took a second to fully look at him.

"It is such a nice night, let's go out by the pool." Trevor's dad said, but no one paid him any attention. By this point, Kendra had stood up, immediately followed by Sally.

"You said nothing happened with anyone while we were broken up." Kendra snapped at Ralph, looking at him and he was mostly speechless, the shock hitting him.

"Casey, this is bad." Rachel muttered to Casey, who wasn't sure if she was breathing. Then Kendra flipped on Ralph, while Sally slipped out of the room, before Kendra stormed out another door.

"You're the father of Sally's baby?" Derek questioned, speaking for the first time in a while. He didn't wait for an answer, taking off out the door.

"I have to go talk to Sally." Casey said, quickly getting up, followed by Rachel.

"No more secrets. I'm coming with you." Rachel said firmly and Casey nodded her head, the two girls heading in the direction that Sally had taken off in. They walked through the kitchen and out the backdoor into the garden, out by the pool. Sally was sitting by the ladder of the pool, her feet in the water.

The two girls walked over to her, Rachel leaning on the ladder and Casey sitting down next to Sally. It was silent for a few moments before Casey finally spoke.

"Are you okay?" She asked Sally who sat in silence for a moment, before giving a light shrug.

"It was bound to come out eventually. To be honest, I am actually kind of happy it happened like this." Sally admitted, making the other two look at her confused.

"Why like this?" Rachel dared to asked and Sally smiled a bit, although she had tear stains down her cheeks.

"All Ralph knows is what he's not and he can't see who he already has become. Kendra isn't helping him if she won't love everything about him, good and bad. This child is a part of him and can help him see how great he really is and she needs to love that part as well." Sally reasoned and the other two remained silent.

The three girls walked back into the house about twenty minutes later. They found their way back to the living room, where Sam was sitting with Trevor, neither looking too thrilled. They did stand up when the girls walked into the room, clearly ready for this to all be over. There was a moment of silence at first, no one quite sure how to break it.

"Derek left with his car and took Kendra home. No one has seen Ralph, so it is best to assume he is walking home because I am sure he wants to be left alone given the great night we had." Trevor said, his tone showing that he was not pleased with how the evening turned out.

"Derek's leaving for school at seven tomorrow, whether we are in the car or not." Sam told Casey before Trevor told Sally and Rachel that he was leaving tonight, not able to handle being here anymore. "Trevor is going to give us a ride back to your house." Sam said pointedly and Trevor rolled his eyes, walking towards the door, the others following without a word.

_You'll never understand my sickness_

_Cause I don't understand my sickness_

_Bang, Bang, Bang!_

Sam groaned and threw his covers off of him, getting out of bed and walking towards the door. He opened the door, letting the light into the room, Casey standing in the doorway.

"Long night?" She asked him and he nodded a bit, rubbing his eyes, his head pounding. "Good to know you guys enjoyed this week of partying, but classes started this morning. You and Derek have class in twenty minutes." Casey said, making Sam quickly look at the clock. He swore, before quickly grabbing clothes and heading out of the room and down to the bathrooms.

"Wake up Derek!" He yelled back to Casey, who was still standing in the doorway. Casey sighed and walked over to Derek's side of the room, poking him with her shoe.

"I can't party Katie, I have class." Derek groaned, pulling his pillow out from under his head and pulling it over his face.

"It's Casey and yes you have class in less than twenty minutes." She said to him and he lifted his head up, the pillow falling back on the bed. He groan, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Too much fun?"

"Never. Katie has been waking us up all week wanting us to go out and party." Derek said, finally getting out of bed and heading over to his closet, looking for clothes.

"Yeah Rachel seen her at a party the other night. She is a rough partier I hear." Casey mentioned simply and Derek shrugged.

"She likes to have fun and as much fun as this was, can you leave now?" Derek asked her, slightly snapped, making Casey roll her eyes. She opened the door and left the room without another word. It was honestly the nicest he has been in a week anyway.

Derek grabbed his clothes and headed down to the bathroom, where Sam was getting out of a quick shower. The two of them practically ran into each other. Sam laughed a bit, commenting on how they are running late, having been too messed up the previous night to remember to set an alarm.

"I can imagine the entertainment wore you out." Derek said as Sam was leaving the bathroom, making him stop and turn around.

"You mean college partying?" Sam asked and Derek shook his head, his trademark smirk on his face.

"I ran into Grace when I got back to the dorm as she was leaving." Derek informed Sam who shook his head at Derek.

"You made it clear you want no one in your business since you found out Ralph slept with Sally." Sam began with, but Derek cut in.

"This has nothing to do with that." Derek snapped and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Listen I don't ask what you do with my sister, so do me a favor and stay out of my business as well." Sam informed him and Derek laughed.

"I am not sleeping with your sister." Derek confirmed for him and Sam shook his head.

"After the shit you gave me for Casey? I never said I thought you were sleeping with her." Sam said simply and Derek narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"You don't know what you are talking about." Derek said and Sam just shook his head, walking out of the bathroom, both of them now running really late for their first class.

Derek glanced down at his phone, noticing that Ralph was calling. Derek didn't hesitate at all as he ignored the phone call, not wanting to hear anything that he had to say. Katie walked across the room, through the party and sat down on the couch next to Derek.

"Another shot to celebrate the end of the first week of school?" She asked him, holding two in her hand. He took it without hesitation, putting his phone back into his pocket. "You want to head upstairs with me, find a room for the two of us?" She asked him, flashing him a flirty smile.

"I'm not sleeping with you." Derek told her firmly, taking a drink from his beer.

"I'll still keep offering." She winked at him and got up from the couch. "The guys and I are heading upstairs soon. Make sure you're there if you want in." She said, before shouting at someone to get their attention and walking off. Derek glanced at his watch, noticing it was just after midnight. He got up from the couch and worked his way around the party. Sam was nowhere to be seen and Derek was assuming that he left early with Grace.

Derek may want his space right now, but Sam is still his roommate. Sam hooking up with Grace is just a way for him to let loose now that he is away at school and although Derek dislikes it, he did not plan on getting involved. Besides, he had his own business that he preferred that Sam stayed out of right now.

"Derek." A voice said as a hand touched his shoulder. He turned around and was surprised to see eight month pregnant Sally standing there.

"What are you doing here?" He asked and she led him into the kitchen where it was less crowded.

"Looking for you. I've heard things since Trevor's party and I've been worried." Sally said to him and he rolled his eyes. "Talk to me, we need to work this out." She pleaded with him and he laughed dryly at her.

"Did you always think about what it would be like hooking up with Ralph? We are at a school filled with guys and you had to sleep with one of my best friends!" Derek snapped at her and Sally pursed her lips.

"It's not like I thought you would find out. It was just a simple hook up and no one was supposed to know." She said in a defeated tone and he laughed dryly once again.

"Letting him knock you up doesn't exactly keep it a secret, now did it. You really fucked everything up." Derek snapped at her.

"I didn't plan any of this and nothing I have done was to hurt you." She said to him, her eyes tearing up a bit. He rolled his eyes again and went to walk away when she really snapped. "I know about you and Casey." She said to him which made him stop walking. "I never noticed it for the longest time, but it is just so unbelievably clear now."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." He said shaking his head.

"I guess I can feel lucky that nothing happened while we were dating. I know you lied to Sam about graduation and he believes your story, but I don't. I can see it in both of your eyes and you need to come to terms with that or you are going to keep blaming other things for bothering you, like your friend sleeping with the ex that cheated on you." She reasoned with him.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." Derek snapped on her and she laughed.

"Derek stop and admit it. You are as much in love with Casey as I am pregnant!" She yelled at him and Derek proceeded to storm away, not listening to her as she pleaded with him to stay and talk it out. Derek made his way through the party and up the stairs, behind one of Katie's friends. The two of them walked into the bathroom, Derek locking the door behind them.

There was at least eight people in the bathroom now, thankfully it was decent sized. The window was wide open and the fan was on, Derek getting passed a blunt as soon as he locked the door. He took two big hits, before passing it off and taking a sit on the edge of the tub. Katie was next to him, sitting on the toilet, seat cover down, of course.

"I knew you would be here." Katie said, handing him a rolled up dollar bill and pointing to the lines of white powder on the top of the toilet. Derek didn't hesitate at all as he quickly did two lines, one through each nostril. "Rough night?" Katie asked him as he handed her the bill.

"Something like that." He said, taking Katie's cigarette and she went to do her own lines. Once she finished she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag that contained more cocaine.

"I figured, so I got you a bag. Save some for tomorrow night and we can make sure it is a good night." She said to him with a smile, taking her cigarette back.

"Sounds like a plan to me." He said, pocketing the bag and choosing to enjoy the rest of the night.

Casey walked out of the room she shared with Ashley and into the living room. She walked passed a bedroom, where the door was open to show the nursery for Sally's baby. On the other side of the room was a closed door leading to Sally and Rachel's room. Casey knocked lightly on the door and a few minutes later, Rachel walked out of the room.

"I'm going to catch a ride with you to school." Casey said, following Rachel into the living room.

"You know I am going to work at my job in the library because today is Saturday and we don't have class." Rachel pointed out to Casey, who rolled her eyes.

"I need to talk to Derek. After listening to Sally last night…" Casey drifted off and Rachel nodded her head.

"I figured as much." She said, grabbing the keys to Trevor's car, which he kept at their house since he stayed at the dorms anyway. Rachel drove them up to the school, dropping Casey off outside of the dorms Derek and Sam's room was in, before heading off to the library. Casey walked into the building and up to Derek and Sam's floor. She knocked on the door and waited patiently for someone to answer the door.

"Hey, Case." Sam said when he opened the door. "I'm on my way out if you are looking for me and Derek is still sleeping." He said and Casey nodded her head because she figured as much.

"He sent Sally home crying last night." Casey said, gesturing towards Sam's sleeping roommate.

"Well I am going to meet up with Ralph. He needs to talk, but we both know you are better at the talking." Sam said to her and she nodded her head, thinking for a moment.

"Derek and Ralph need to talk. Let me work with Derek a bit and bring Ralph back here in about a half hour." Casey said to him and Sam hesitated for a moment, but knowing that Ralph was messed up because Derek was avoiding him, he agreed.

"Tough love. See you in thirty. Text if there is a problem." Sam said before jogging down the hall towards the stairs. Casey walked into the room and shut the door. She walked over to their beds, sitting down on Sam's and proceeding to poke Derek with her foot. Derek opened his eyes and lifted his head to see who was poking him, before dropping it back down.

"What now." Derek groaned into his pillow.

"We need to talk and I am free today so I will hang around until you are ready." Casey informed him and he sighed.

"I told my dad not to marry your mom for this reason." Derek mumbled as he sat up.

"Because your step-sister would break into your dorm and force you to talk?" Casey inquired and he nodded his head.

"That is exactly what I said. That or she looks like a bitch." He said and Casey narrowed her eyes at him. "I need a shower." He said, grabbing clean clothes and making his way for the door.

"If you leave me alone, I will clean!" She said and he just shrugged, mumbling some nonsense as the door shut behind him. Casey did as she said she would, starting with making their beds.

She picked up Sam's side of the room first, before she made her way over to Derek's side. She straightened everything up before she began picking up clothes and throwing them in his laundry basket. She grabbed the pair of pants by his bed, noticing a bag fall out of the pocket. She tossed the rest of the clothes into the basket before heading over to his bed.

She bent down to pick up the bag as the door opened back up. She realized what it was with enough time to turn around and see Derek realize what she was holding. He quickly rushed over and grabbed it from her, shoving it into the pocket of the pants he was wearing now.

"Derek." Casey said cautiously.

"Don't even start with me Casey." He said and Casey just looked at him shocked.

"How can I not. Cocaine? Derek you are not this stupid." She said to him and he laughed at her. "Is this about Ralph and Sally hooking up?" Casey asked him and he continued to laugh at her.

"Didn't you come here to talk about Sally? I'm assuming she told you about last night. Nothing is the problem except for me and you." He informed her and she looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him and he looked at her shocked.

"I guess she left that bit out. See, she says she has us figured out and she says she knows about us. This led her to the conclusion that I am not bothered by her sleeping with Ralph, but using that as cover for the fact that you bother me." He explained to her and she sat down on Sam's bed shocked and appalled.

"Bother?" Casey inquired and he snapped.

"Despite what either of us want, there is nothing between us. You are my step-sister and even though you believe you may be more, you are nothing more." He snapped on her and she just stared at him, not sure what to say. Drugs, their relationship, Sally, Ralph… Oh she needed to text Sam, this is not the right time.

With the worst timing ever, Sam opened the dorm door, Ralph walking in behind him. Derek stared at the two of them as Sam shut the door behind them. He then turned to look at Casey.

"Let me guess, another one of Casey's brilliant plans." Derek snarled at her and she just sat in silence.

"You didn't text." Sam muttered to Casey as he walked over by her. She sent him a dirty look and looked over to Ralph, who was standing there, not sure what to do.

"Derek we need to talk." Ralph said, but Derek wanted nothing to do with it. He walked towards the door, but Ralph stepped in front of it to stop him from leaving. Derek didn't like that and proceeded to push Ralph, who pushed him back. Casey and Sam quickly began to move as the two of them began to throw punches.

"What the fuck were you doing hooking up with my ex-girlfriend." Derek snapped as Sam pulled him away from Ralph.

"We're not perfect. We make mistakes and then we forgive and move forward." Ralph yelled back at Derek, shrugging out of Casey's grip. Ralph then swore as his phone went off in his pocket, making him pull it out and answer it.

Derek didn't stick around to hear who Ralph needed to talk to, finally leaving the room. Sam and Casey exchanged looked, while Casey's mind was spinning with everything that had just happened.

"What happened to talking to him?" Sam asked and Casey opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't know how to tell him any of it. The fact that Derek is currently in the possession of cocaine or would it be an easier blow for her to tell him that Derek wants nothing to do with her.

"I have to go. Sally went into labor. Now!" Ralph said, quickly getting their attention.

"She isn't due for a month still." Casey said and Ralph looked at her.

"You think that would be more reason to hurry." Ralph said and Casey quickly caught on, rushing out of the dorm with the two of them.

"Casey. Sam" Ralph said in a low, quiet voice, lightly shaking the two of them. Casey's eyes popped opened and she quickly realized she was still in the waiting room at the hospital. She quickly sat up, having fallen asleep on a hoodie in Sam's lap. She took in Ralph's appearance, looking tired and upset, almost distraught, making Casey's stomach drop.

"What happened?" Sam asked.

"How's the baby?" Casey quickly inquired as soon as Sam finished speaking.

"Although premature, the baby girl is healthy. She will have to stay a few nights for observation, but nothing too extreme thus far." Ralph explained to them, making them two of them smile, while Ralph nodded his head a bit. He looked like he had bad news to give and Casey bit her lip before she opened her mouth.

"What is it Ralph?" Casey finally asked him and he let out a slow breath.

"It was a difficult labor and then she was born and I was so excited. Then the doctors were yelling and it got crazy and I was chased out of the room, where I was told to wait with her parents." He explained to them and he sighed again. "She just lost so much blood and they tried everything they could, but they lost her." He finished explaining, clearly having a hard time getting it all out.

"They lost Sally." Casey said breathlessly, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes. "She's gone? Just like that?" Casey asked, although she knew the answers.

"What happens now?" Sam asked and Ralph shrugged.

"We say goodbye to Sally and I raise a daughter." Ralph said, looking at the other two hopelessly.

Sam and Casey had drove back to her house, Ralph stay in the hospital, going home with Sally's parents to figure everything out. They were surprised to find that Ashley and Rachel were still awake, waiting to hear what had happened at the hospital. Sam and Casey delivered the difficult news and the room filled with a heavy silence.

By three in the morning there was a bottle of vodka sitting on the table and it was already half way gone. They smoked a blunt for Sally and even Casey did as well, the first time in a long time. They were all talking about Sally and trying to recall all the fond memories when someone started knocking at the front door. Ashley was the closet, opening the door to reveal Derek.

Casey quickly got up once she had seen him standing in the doorway, knowing he had to be messed up and he wouldn't be here to see anyone else but her. She walked over to the door, Ashley walking to Casey's place on the couch.

"Where have you been? You look like a wreck!" She stated to him in a sharp whisper.

"Misery loves company and I find friends in all the wrong places." Derek said with a laugh and Casey bit her lip after taking a deep breath. "You having a party?" Derek asked, stepping into the house.

"More like saying goodbye." Ashley said when no one said anything.

"Who is leaving?" Derek asked, glancing around the room. No one answered him, just sat silently. Casey let out a sob, unable to hold back the now forming tears as realization was brought back upon them. She blamed the alcohol mostly. "Case?" Derek inquired, noticing her getting very emotional. Casey looked at Sam, her eyes pleading for him to tell Derek because she couldn't do it.

"Sally." Sam managed to get out, making Derek look at him. "She…there were complications during the birth… lots of blood. She, well, she didn't make it." Sam explained to him cautiously and Derek stared at him for a long moment. He opened his mouth to speak a few times but nothing came out. He wanted to believe it was a joke, but the very emotional looks on everyone's faces made it clear.

"I have to get out of here." Derek said, making his way back to the door, Casey trying to stop him. It was no use, as Derek got out of her grasp and took off out of the house and into the night.

Derek ran all the way back to the school and towards the dorms. He found the hall he was looking for and rushed inside, up to the floor and to the door of the room he wanted. He knocked in a hurried manner on the door and waited for an answer. Katie opened the door, looking very awake for the time of night it was.

"Derek?" She questioned, surprised to see him here this late.

"For some reason I knew you would be up still." He said, pulling the same bag out of his pocket, although a decent amount was missing from it since the last time she had seen it. "Where is your roommate?" He asked her and she smirked.

"At her boyfriend's place." Katie informed him and he smirked back at her.

"Good." He said before crashing his lips down on hers, kicking the door shut and getting her over to the bed and knocking her onto it. He was determined to do anything possible to forget everything.

_Save yourself_

_From a life full of lies and a heart full of pain and sorrow_

_Save yourself_

_From the choices I make cause nothing but failure follows me_

_Save yourself_


End file.
